An Era to Live : Year 1
by LaughsLikeGirl
Summary: A place of soaring towers and wondrous things, Hogwarts was all Amelia ever dreamed about. A place of magic and acceptance, it was all Harry ever wanted. Both find Hogwarts to be home, and there they must face some of the darkest forces.
1. I: Diagon Alley

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 1 – Diagon Alley

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

"'All first year students will require three sets of plain work robes, one plain pointed hat for day wear, one pair of protective gloves – dragon hide or similar – and one winter cloak. Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

"'All students should have a copy of each of the following: _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk, _A History of Magic_ by Bathlida Bagshot, _Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling, _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch, _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Rhyllida Spore, _Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander, and _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble.

"'Other equipment – one wand, one cauldron – pewter, standard size 2 – one set glass or crystal phials, one telescope, and one set brass scales. Students may also bring an owl or a cat or a toad. Parents are reminded that first years are not allowed their own broomsticks.' Are you sure we can get all of this stuff Jacob?" Amelia said, turning up to her older cousin. He smiled down at her, taking the list from her hands.

"Of course we can. It's all about where you look," he said, smirking. His green eyes shone as he pulled her into a store, his brown hair blowing with the breeze as they walked into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Let's get you fitted for your robes first."

The bell on top of the door rang as he pulled it open, smiling over at the small, merry woman that Amelia deemed to be Madame Malkin. "Good afternoon Madame Malkin," Jacob said. "My cousin needs to be fitted for her robes."

"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, turning her smiling face to Amelia. Amelia nodded enthusiastically, ecstatic to finally be going to off to school. "Well, come on back then – another young man already being fitted."

Jacob started to follow them back, but stopped, and smiled to someone through the window. "Hagrid!" he greeted, walking out to shake the hand of the large, unruly man that stood there.

"Jacob, is that yeh? Yeh got so tall over the summer!" he said. Amelia had always considered her cousin to be tall, but he looked like a dwarf standing next to the larger man. "Yeh be needin' a new set a robes already?" he asked.

Jacob shook his head. "No, sir. It's my little cousin. She's going to be starting her first year this term," He gestured over to Amelia, standing in the window of the store as Madame Malkin got the fabric ready that she would need to fit Amelia with her robes.

Hagrid smiled, stepping aside to let a young boy that stood next to him walk over to the entrance. "Might as well get yer uniforms as well Harry. Might make a new friend."

The boy named Harry nodded and walked over to her, smiling and holding his hand out. "Hi. My name's Harry, Harry Potter."

Amelia tried to hide her shock at meeting the legend. She was sure that he must have been used to it and tired of all the attention. She took his hand and smiled back. "I'm Amelia Warrington," she introduced herself.

"Come one then, dear," Madame Malkin said, shuffling her forward with a wave of her hand. Amelia and Harry followed her to the back.

"Are you going to be at Hogwarts as well?" she asked him. Harry nodded.

"Yes," He replied.

"I think it's exciting. I've been waiting forever to get my letter," she said, stepping up onto a stool and letting Madame Malkin throw the robe over her head and pin it in the all the right places to make it fit the best. "What about you? Are you excited?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "I suppose."

"You suppose? Hogwarts is the best school and you _suppose_ you're excited?" she giggled. "You're really weird, you know that?"

Harry smiled, taking a seat down in a chair to wait his turn. He watched as Amelia winced, letting out an 'ow' when Madame Malkin accidentally poked her in the side with one of the pins. He watched her face and couldn't help but laugh at the strange faces she made. She had said he was weird, but she was the truly silly one.

"You two Hogwarts, too?" they both turned their heads and nodded to the other boy that stood on a stool, holding his arms out for another one of the fitters. He was very pale with a pointed face and had a strange look about him.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," he said.

Amelia giggled. "I can't wait to get my wand. My father used to let me play with his a little to light fireworks on holidays, or to put the decorations up on the Christmas tree at Christmas time, but he says that when I get my own wand I'll be able to do more than that," She let out another of her sparkling smiles. "I can barely keep myself from running down the street."

The boy smirked. "Besides a wand, I'm going to have to bully father into letting me get a broom. I think it's rubbish how first year's can't have brooms. I'll sneak it in somehow though," he said.

Amelia frowned, shaking a finger at him. "That's not good! They have those rules for a reason."

He snorted, turning his head away from her. "It's not like it's my first time. I have my own broom at home and father's taught me how to ride it."

"Still, you should obey the rules, not break them."

"Goody-two-shoes. You plan to be such a bore the entire time you're at Hogwarts?"

"Well, I certainly don't plan to be a delinquent like you."

"Why you-"

"All done dear!" Madame Malkin said, patting Amelia on the shoulder as she stepped off the stool and walked to spin around in the mirror. "How does that feel?"

She smiled, turning back to the witch. "It's perfect."

Harry stepped onto the stool and let Madame Malkin pull the robe over his shoulders and then pin it in all the right spots like she had with Amelia.

"Have _you _got your own broom?" the boy said, turning to Harry.

"No," he replied.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No." Harry started to wonder what Quidditch was when Amelia came back over and sat down in the chair with her robe, all packaged neatly, in her lap. He felt relieved that she was back, not knowing how to stop the other boy from asking questions that confused him.

"_I _do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?" he asked, ignoring Amelia.

"No," Harry said. He felt more stupid by the minute, not knowing anything about this world.

"I don't care what house I'm in. Getting accepted is good news in itself. Besides, it's not the house that makes the person," Amelia said.

"Rubbish. My whole family's been in Slytherin, so I bet I'll be too. I think I'd leave if I was in Hufflepuff, wouldn't you?" he said, turning to Harry.

"Mmm," was all Harry said.

Amelia shrugged. "I think I'd burn the curtains. I hate yellow."

The boy seemed somewhat pleased at this before his attention was drawn to the window. "I say, look at that man!" he exclaimed. Harry looked at saw Hagrid talking to Amelia's cousin. They both held ice cream cones for the two first years, smiling back at them when they realized they were staring.

"That's Hagrid," Harry said. "He works at Hogwarts."

"I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

Amelia frowned. "He's gamekeeper," She chorused with Harry. They were both starting to dislike the boy more and more by the second.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage_ – lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed," he said. Amelia huffed, standing up, not bothering to pick up her uniform from off of the floor after it had slid from her lap.

"Hagrid's a very smart man, for your information," she defended. Harry found that her fiery temper made him feel relieved that he wouldn't have to defend himself against the boy that seemed to know so much more than he did.

"Why is he with you anyway? Where are your parents?"

Amelia turned and pointed to her cousin, who was waving at her to come quickly, getting impatient. "My cousin's taking me. My parents are both busy today."

"My parents are dead," Harry said.

Amelia turned around, shocked that he could say it so simply. She didn't need to say anything, though, for Harry could see her sympathy in her eyes and that was enough for him.

"Oh, sorry," the boy said. He didn't sound sorry in the least bit. "They were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." Amelia found that the subject of his parents was a very sensitive topic for Harry and wished that the other boy would stop talking to them and leave already. The witch fitting him was taking way too slow.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same; they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Madame Malkin stood up and said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry hopped down from the stool, eager to leave; Amelia was as well.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," he said.

Amelia turned and waved goodbye to the boy before walking out of the store to meet her cousin and Hagrid. They handed the first years their ice cream – Amelia got her favorite flavor of strawberry cheesecake, while Harry chocolate raspberry with chopped nuts – and continued on down Diagon Alley to collect the rest of supplies on their lists.

They stopped to buy quills for a short while, and Amelia was pleased when Harry smiled at seeing the ink that changed color as you wrote that she showed him. His sad face was starting to rub off on her, and she wanted her new friend to smile more. When they left, Harry asked Hagrid, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

Jacob looked down at him in confusion. "What's Quidditch? It's only the best game in the world!"

Amelia leaned over and whispered into Harry's ear, "My brother thinks he's amazing at it, but he gets cut from the team every year during tryouts," she giggled.

"I keep forgettin' how little yeh know – not knowin' about Quidditch!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Don't make me feel worse," Harry told Hagrid and Jacob about the boy that they had met back at Madame Malkin's. "He said that people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in-"

"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh _were_!"

"All the kids from wizarding families have grown up hearing stories about you Harry!" Amelia said. "If he did know, he'd never have said any of that stuff. I can tell he's all show."

"Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles – look at yer mom! Look what she had for a sister!"

"So what is Quidditch?" Harry asked again, returning the conversation to his original question.

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. Everyone follows Quidditch – played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls – sorta hard ter explain the rules," Hagrid said.

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but-"

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff."

"Don't say that Harry," Amelia said, poking him lightly in the forehead. "It doesn't matter what house your in anyways. Like I said before, the house doesn't make the person."

Jacob laughed. "Amelia's been reading up on Hogwarts all summer. She knows more than I do about the history of the school. I bet she's going to take the other students – not the mention some of the professors – by surprise." He ruffled her hair. "She's quite the potions nerd."

She frowned, swatting his hand away. "Am not."

"Potions? I'm sure Professor Snape will be more than ready to challenge yeh," Hagrid said, winking down at her. "Like I was saying, better Hufflepuff than Slytherin. There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

Harry turned to Hagrid. "Vold-, sorry – You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago."

They all stopped in Flourish and Blotts to purchase their schoolbooks. Amelia was bewildered as she ran around the store with Harry, looking at all the fascinating volumes, some large and some small, some with peculiar symbols and some with nothing in them at all. Amelia, though, had her eyes on the Potions section of the store. Jacob sighed and walked over to make sure that she wasn't going to be looking through anything dangerous, mumbling something about her blowing the door off with a potion she found in a book before. Harry laughed at that, watching Amelia beg her cousin to let her get a large, leather-bound tome.

"I'm not going to get you the fifth year Potions textbook. Find something more suitable," He told her, taking the book and putting it back on the shelves.

Hagrid laughed, watching her look through the shelves. "Potions prodigy, is she?" he said.

Jacob sighed, nodding. "I have a feeling that Professor Snape is going to like her."

Amelia didn't find her Potions book, and Hagrid dragged Harry away from the curse book that he had found – and planned to use on Dudley –, saying that it was too advanced for him anyways. They both walked away empty-handed.

After getting their cauldrons, scales, and telescopes, they headed down to the Apothecary, where Hagrid got Harry a set of basic Potions ingredients. Jacob and Amelia stayed outside, on account of Amelia and her hobbies. It didn't stop her from pressing her face up against the glass and gazing into the store longingly. The shopkeeper waved to her in apology.

Outside the Apothecary, they decided to get their wands next, the only thing left on the list. "Oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present," Hagrid added.

Amelia gasped. "It's your birthday? And you didn't say anything?"

"It was yesterday."

Amelia didn't take this as an excuse. "What would you like?" she asked, giving him one of those large smiles again.

"You don't have to get me anything."

She frowned. "Are you _sure_ that there's nothing you want?"

He nodded. "It's okay."

Amelia sighed and folded her arms over her chest, disappointed that she didn't get to go shopping for a present.

Hagrid turned to them with an idea. "Tell yeh what, I'll get yer an animal. I'll get yer an owl."

They walked over to Eeylops Owl Emporium where Hagrid got Harry a snowy white owl, asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stuttering his thanks to the large gamekeeper, who insisted that it was no big deal. Amelia also walked away with an owl, keeping hers in a smaller cage for its smaller size. It was a black owl with bright red eyes. Harry said that it looked evil, like it was out to get everybody, but Amelia playfully hit him on the arm and denied it. "You can't judge a book by it's cover. He's just misunderstood." To prove her point, she opened the cage and let the owl walk onto her arm. It opened its wings briefly, stretching, before settling down to sit on her shoulder, blinking down at her. She smiled, petting him lightly on the head.

"Just Ollivanders left now – only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand," Hagrid said.

Ollivanders was a narrow and shabby shop with the name written over the door in peeling gold letters. A lone wand lay in the window on a purple cushion. They walked in and a bell rang somewhere deeper in the store. It was a small shop except for the chair that Hagrid sat on to wait while they got their wands. Harry and Amelia both looked around in wonder, staring at the dusty boxes that were stacked high to the roof on the shelves, some piled high on the floor.

"Good afternoon." Harry jumped at the voice along with Hagrid. There was an old man before them with wide, pale eyes that shone like moons in the otherwise gloomy shop.

"Hello," Harry said.

"Ah, yes. Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter," he said. It wasn't a question as he glanced at Harry. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to the first years. Harry stared at him, feeling Amelia grab the arm of his shirt in discomfort. The man was creepy with his unblinking eyes. "Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, or course."

He moved closer to Harry, nearly touching his nose. "And that's where…" He reached out with a long, white finger to touch the scar on Harry's forehead. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it. Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."

He shook his head and stood up, turning his attention to Hagrid. "Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again…Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," Hagrid said.

Mr. Ollivander moved down the line and took the hand of Jacob. "Jacob Warrington, is it? Maple and dragon heartstring. Ten inches."

Jacob nodded, smiling at the old man. "It is, sir. Works just as well as the first time I held it," he said. "Now it's my cousin's turn to get hers," he said, putting a hand on Amelia's shoulder.

She tried to squirm away as Mr. Ollivander studied her closely, moving her head from side to side. "I think I have the perfect wand for this one," he said, walking swiftly to the back of the store and disappearing down one of the aisles. He returned with a small box.

He opened it and handed the wand to her. She took it and felt a strange warmth go through her arm. "Try this, dear. Willow and phoenix feather. Nine-and-a-half inches." She gave it a small wave and a blue light wafted out of the tip, engulfing her hand. She stared down at it in curiosity before a smile broke out on her face.

"Very good, my dear," he said, taking the wand back and putting it into the box.

"I don' think I've ever seen such a quick selection," Hagrid said.

Mr. Ollivander nodded, giving Amelia the box. "She gave me a familiar feeling, the same one I get whenever I hold that wand. Use it well."

He turned to Harry. "Right then, Mr. Potter," he said, taking a box down from the shelves. "Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Amelia could tell that Harry felt silly waving a wand around, but before anything happened, Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand and handed him another. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –" Harry went to wave it again, but it was grabbed from him and replaced by another. "No, no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, try it out."

Harry tried the many wands that Mr. Ollivander handed him, not sure what was supposed to happen, or what the old man was waiting for. He suspected that something like what happened with Amelia should happen to him as well, and was somewhat expecting something to shoot out the tip and attack him.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere," He reached for a box, but his hand stopped and grabbed another, taking it down. He stared at the box. "I wonder, now," he said to himself. "Yes, why not," he said, returning back to Harry. "Unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand and felt a warmth travel up his fingers. He waved the wand and red and gold sparks shot out the tip like fireworks. Hagrid cheered and clapped. Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well…how curious…how very curious…" he said, trailing off in his thoughts. His face was drawn into itself as he put Harry's wand back in the box, wrapping it up for him.

"Sorry, but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander glued his pale gaze to Harry's face. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar."

Amelia noted that Harry looked nervous.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember…I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter…after all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."

Amelia and Harry both shivered at the story. They paid for their wands and left the shop quickly, walking back down Diagon Alley. They reached the end and Hagrid shook Jacob's hand goodbye.

"I expect I'll be seeing yeh with the rest of the first years," he said, nodding down to Amelia.

She nodded and smiled. "Yes, sir." She stood next to Harry as Jacob and Hagrid said their goodbyes, talking about plans for next year. "So I'll see you at school?" she asked him, staring at Harry hopefully.

He nodded. "I'll see you then."

She smiled and walked off with her cousin, waving back to them until they were too far to be seen anymore.


	2. I: The Journey from Platform 9 34

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 2 – The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

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"Goodbye Mum! Goodbye Dad!" Amelia said, hugging her parents' goodbye as she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express. She pulled her luggage on with her and rolled it down the narrow hallways of the train behind her. She looked through the closed doors into the compartments and sighed, passing each one by as she found that they were already full. Some of the older students – mainly the ones in Slytherin – would look to her with disgust as they found the first year rolling down the aisle alone.

She came to one of the last compartments and nearly screamed in relief and excitement. She opened the door and smiled when the boy turned to look at her. "Amelia!" he said.

"Hi, Harry. Mind if I sit with you?" she asked. Harry shook his head and stood to help her with her luggage. "It's okay. I got it," she said, shoving it up onto the rack. They sat down opposite from each other, watching as the last few students got onto the train from the window.

"So how was the rest of your summer?" she asked, breaking the silence with her eager question.

He shrugged. "Alright, I guess. You?"

She smiled. "Fun. My parents have been smothering me for the past few days, crying over my leaving," She didn't want to continue, knowing that parents were a sensitive topic for her friend. "I hope to meet some new people, though. But between you and me, I hope I never have to run into the boy again. The one from Madame Malkin's?" she said.

Harry nodded, agreeing.

The door of the compartment slid open and a young boy with red hair came in. "Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing to the empty seat next to Harry. "Everywhere else is full."

They shook their heads and he sat down. Amelia opened her mouth to say hello, but the door opened again and there stood twins, each with their own patch of bright red hair. "Hey, Ron," they said. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there," One of the twins said.

Ron mumbled, "Right."

"Harry," said the other twin, glancing at the dark-haired boy across from Amelia. "Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

"Bye," the two boys chorused back to them as the compartment door slid closed.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron said to Harry.

He nodded.

"Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes. And have you really got – you know…" Ron trailed off. He pointed to Harry's forehead, gesturing to the scar that he hoped was underneath his bangs. Harry pulled back his hair to show the lightening scar to both of them. Amelia was just as fascinated by it, feeling like she was meeting a celebrity all over again. It was only as she witnessed first-hand the lightning shaped mark on his skin that she realized that she had never seen it before during the entire day she had spent with him and Hagrid.

"So that's where You-Know-Who-?"

"Yes, but I can't remember it." Harry replied.

"Nothing?"

"Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"I guess that's better than the other way around," Amelia said.

"Wow," Ron said in amazement. It was only then that he turned to Amelia, noticing she was there. "And you are?"

"Amelia Warrington," she said happily, holding her hand out for him.

He nodded, smiling a little back to her. Harry understood the feeling. Her smiles were contagious. "Ron Weasley," He sat back against the seat. "So, do you two know each other already?"

They nodded. "We met in Diagon Alley about a month ago," Amelia told him. "And I must say, he's a lot more shy than I'd expect someone with his reputation to be!" she giggled, smiling over at Harry. He shook his head, smiling back. It was all in good humor.

"I never knew until I met Hagrid. I feel like I don't know anything," he said. "Ron, are all your family wizards?" he asked.

"Er – yes, I think so. I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him." Amelia laughed at that.

"So you must know loads to magic already, like Amelia," he said. Ron shrugged, turning to her.

"What do you know?"

She smiled, feeling proud in the moment, knowing that she knew more about being a witch than the other two did – at the moment. "I've got an aptitude for potions. It's a little hobby of mine. Though it does anger my parents sometimes."

"Why?"

"They don't like it when doors in our house get blown off," she laughed nervously. Ron chuckled at her and Harry had to laugh as well, remembering Jacob's paranoia about Amelia being left in the bookstore all on her own.

Ron turned to Harry. "I heard you went to live with Muggles. What are they like?" he asked.

"Horrible – well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers," Harry replied.

"Five," Ron corrected. For some reason, he suddenly seemed sad. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached into his jacket and pulled out a gray rat. Amelia shrieked and slid closer to the window, even though the furry mammal was asleep. "He doesn't bite," he reassured her. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

His ears turned pink and he turned to stare out the window. "I don't think there's anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, until a month ago I've never had any money, and I always had to wear Dudley's – my cousin's – old clothes, and I never got a proper birthday gift."

Ron seemed to be cheered up by this, but it made Amelia feel bad. She frowned, turning to watch the countryside roll by through the window. She would defiantly be getting him a decent birthday gift.

"And until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –"

Ron and Amelia gasped.

"What?"

"_You said You-Know-Who's name!"_ Ron said, whispering loudly. He was genuinely shocked – albeit, a little impressed as well. "I'd have thought you of all people-"

"I'm not trying to be _brave_ or anything, saying the name, I just never knew you shouldn't," Harry said. "See what I mean? I've got a lot to learn…I bet I'm the worst in the class," he said, voicing the worry that had been nagging at him lately.

"You don't need to be," Amelia said. "You're not the only kid who's come from a Muggle background. Everybody has to learn things from scratch." She smiled over at him, not wanting him to worry.

They were quiet for a time as they all watched the countryside passed by, watching the fields of cows and sheep as they speeded on towards Hogwarts. Amelia grew tired and eventually fell asleep, her head leaning against the window.

"She's got the right idea. I'd like to get a few hours of sleep in," Ron said, stretching out his arms. Harry nodded, watching her. Like when she was awake, she made strange faces in her sleep. At times, her brow would be smoothed out and she would be peaceful, and others she would moan and whine in her sleep and have her brow furrowed together. Harry was curious as to what she was dreaming about, never having seen someone so disturbed in his or her sleep before – well, except maybe for Dudley.

Around half past twelve, there was a loud clattering in the corridor. A smiling woman pulled back the door and said, "Anything off the cart dears?"

Harry leapt to his feet, feeling the effects of not having breakfast. Ron stayed in his seat, muttering that he had sandwiches in case he got hungry. Harry nodded, walking out into the corridor to buy himself something to eat. All the candy on the cart – The Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Glowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands – was strange and foreign to him. Not wanting to miss anything that could be delicious, he bought a little of everything.

Ron stared at him as he walked back into the compartment and sat back down. "Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," Harry replied, taking a bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Smelling the food, Amelia stirred and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Did I fall asleep?"

She took one glance at all the food and smiled. "Can I have a pasty Harry?" she asked. He nodded and handed her one. She smiled as she bit into it. "I haven't eaten since breakfast." Harry nodded, thinking that it felt nice to share something with his friends.

He grabbed a Chocolate Frog and held it up. "What are these?" he asked. "They're not really frogs, are they?"

"No, but see what the card is," Ron said. "I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect – famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy," Ron said.

Harry opened his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It was an old man with half-moon glasses, a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair. Albus Dumbledore was written underneath the picture. "So _this_ is Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" Ron said. Harry seemed to be shocking him more and more every minute. Amelia grabbed a frog and opened it, biting into it and melting at the sensation of chocolate as Harry read the back of his card. 'Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.' He turned the card back over to see the Headmaster, but was surprised to find his face no longer there.

"He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," Ron said. "He'll be back."

"All people in photos move in our world," Amelia said. She reached up to her suitcase and pulled a bottle of water out of the side. "They're not like Muggle photos."

Ron groaned, looking at the face on his card. "No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her." He turned to Harry, holding out the card. "Do you want it? You can start collecting." Ron's eyes turned to the pile of Frogs that were still wrapped up.

"Help yourself," Harry said, taking the card that Ron had offered to him. As the three of them ate their way through the candy, Harry collected more cards of different witches and wizards before he opened a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You want to be careful with those. When they say every flavor, they _mean_ every flavor – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you get spinach and liver and tripe," Ron warned Harry. "George swears he had a booger-flavored one once."

Amelia scoffed. "If you're always worrying about the 'what ifs', how will you every try anything new?" she reached over to the bag and pulled out a red one. She chewed it for a while before her eyes starting to water. She started fanning herself with her hand in an attempt to cool the burning in her mouth.

Ron and Harry laughed. "I told you," Ron said.

Once the flavor was gone, Amelia sighed. "Pepper. I hate peppers."

Ron picked a green one and bit into the corner. "Bleaargh – see? Sprouts."

The three of them dug into the Every Flavor Beans. Amelia enjoyed tasting the red ones – she got strawberry, raspberry, another pepper, cherry, and peppermint. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and nibbled off the end of a gray one that turned out to be another pepper. Amelia learned her lesson quick, however, and chose to stick to the light pink ones that she knew to be strawberry or raspberry, or at least a flavor that didn't make her nauseous.

Outside the window, the calm, neat fields were gone, replaced by wild forests and twisting rivers with dark green covered hills in the background. It was almost as if they were in another world already from not seeing one building in site. Not even a house was out there in the woods.

There was a knock on the door of the compartment and a chubby-faced boy walked in, his eyes glassy like he had been crying. "Sorry, but have you seen a toad at all?" They shook their heads and he broke out in tears. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!" he wailed.

"You'll find him, don't worry," Amelia said, giving him a smile.

The boy still seemed miserable. "Yes. Well, if you see him…" he said, leaving.

Ron turned back to the other two. "Don't see why he's so bothered. If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." He said, gesturing to the fat rat sleeping in his lap. "He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference. I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him look more interesting, but the spell didn't work," he said. "I'll show you, look…"

Ron reached over into his trunk and pulled out a very worn wand. Parts of it were chipped off and there was a strand of something white sticking out of the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"

He raised his want to show off his spell when the door slid open again. The other boy was back, the one who had been missing his toad, and he had a girl with him this time. She was already dressed up in her Hogwarts robes. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said in a bossy voice. She had a head of big, bushy brown hair.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," Ron said. The girl wasn't listening though, but staring at his wand intensely.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then," she said. Amelia thought that she seemed very haughty, like she knew everything. She didn't like her at all, especially not with that domineering tone that she spoke to them in. She came right in and sat down next to Ron, who was surprised that she had barged into their compartment.

"Er – all right." Ron said, clearing his throat. "_Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid fat rat yellow._" He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers slept on, his fur unchanging in color. Amelia smiled and held her hand in front of her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl said. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's got magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

Amelia felt out of breath just listening to her talk so fast. Her words sounded like one large run-on sentence. Harry looked to his two friends and was glad to find, by their stunned faces, that they hadn't memorized all the course books yet either.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"Amelia Warrington."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" Hermione asked. She was surprise, Amelia supposed, but her face didn't change expressions, as if she had expected to run across Harry sometime. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History _and_ The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century._"

"Am I?" Harry replied.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," Hermione said, talking to them as if they were all naive little toddlers hanging around with the grown ups. Amelia hated that air of superiority that she had, but suspected she had good reason. She was a Muggle-born, and, as such, had tried to learn as much as she could. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon," she said, closing the door as her and Neville walked off to find his slimy pet.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron said.

"She talks too much. Did either of you even catch a _word_ of what she was saying?" Ron laughed. "I swear, I got lost halfway through." Harry chuckled.

Ron threw his wand back in his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, probably knew it was a dud."

"What house are your brothers in?" Harry asked Ron.

"Gryffindor. Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not." he seemed sad, a very gloomy look coming over his eyes. "I don't suppose Ravenclaw _would_ be that bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin." Ron shivered.

"I'm telling you guys, don't worry. The house-"

"Doesn't make the person," Harry finished for her.

She smirked. "And besides, Slytherinians are cruel and deceitful and wicked, and neither of you are like that."

"Slytherinians?" Ron asked, trying not to laugh.

"People in Slytherin."

"Is that even a word?" Harry asked.

"It is _now_."

"I guess you're not like that Hermione, are you? Learning everything before you even get to school?" Ron asked.

Amelia scoffed. "Of course now. I did go through the potions textbook, but it was way too simple for me, so I dropped it after the first few chapters."

"Too simple?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Apparently she's a potions prodigy," Harry explained to him.

"Potions? Of all things to choose from you like potions," Ron said, making the word sound disgusting.

"Enough about me," Amelia said, feeling a tad irritated that they were picking on her. "Ron, you said that you had a bunch of brothers. What do the older ones that have graduated do now?" she asked.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," His eyes went open, remembering something else. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the _Daily Prophet_, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Amelia was shocked while Harry stared. "Really? What happened to them?" he asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

Harry was starting to feel a little scared every time that name was mentioned. He believed that it was probably part of entering the magical world, but saying Voldemort made him seem less dangerous – or at least, made Harry not as afraid of him.

Ron seemed to be used to hearing about it because he changed the subject quickly. "What's your Quidditch team?" he asked.

"Er – I don't know any," Harry replied.

"What!" Ron was speechless. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" he said before he went off on a tangent, explaining the rules of Quidditch and all about the fours balls and the seven players. He described famous players and mentioned the broomstick he would get if he had the money for it. Amelia was lost after the first ball and player were mentioned and tuned out, watching the boys talk about their sports like boys did. She was reminded of her father and how into Muggle football (1) he was.

Ron was just starting to go into the finer points when the compartment door slid open again. Amelia looked up, expecting to see Neville or Hermione again, but was surprised when three new people stepped through the door.

Harry and Amelia recognized the one in the middle as the pale boy from Madame Malkin's robe shop back in Diagon Alley. This time, though, he was more excited, looking at Harry with more interest than he had before.

"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" he asked, nodding towards Harry.

"Yes," Harry replied. He glanced at the other boys, both very thick with mean expressions, looking like bodyguards while standing next to the smaller boy in the middle.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," he said, noticing that Harry was looking at them. "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Amelia chuckled while Ron coughed, trying to hide a laugh.

"Think my name's funny, do you?" Draco said, glaring at the two of them.

Amelia shook her head. "Just the way you said it. 'Malfoy, Draco Malfoy'." She laughed again. "Reminds me of this movie I saw the other day. 'Bond, James Bond.'" She couldn't stop smiling.

Draco seemed to take this as an okay excuse and didn't bug her about it. "And just who are you? You're the one from the shop that time, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Warrington, Amelia Warrington." She started laughing again.

Draco turned to Ron and sneered at him, "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held his hand out for Harry to take but Harry sat back, not returning it. "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." He said.

Draco's cheeks went a little pink before he turned to Amelia. "Are you going to sit here with this wizard trash too, Warrington?" he asked.

Amelia looked at Ron and Harry, then back to Draco and his beefy friends before saying, "One person's trash is another person's treasure," with a friendly smile. "But it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." She decided that making enemies wouldn't be wise on the first day, so she didn't want to make him hate her.

Not to mention, he _was_ a little cute…

He was okay with this response. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," He said slowly to Harry. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Ron and Harry both stood up, ready to fight the three. "Say that again," Ron threatened, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy taunted, sneering at them.

"Unless you get out now," Harry said, suddenly sounding very brave.

Amelia stood and put a hand on both of their shoulders, trying to pull them back from making a scene. "Stop trying to cause trouble you guys," she said. "I think you should leave, Draco," She said.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some," he said. Amelia wanted to say something about how Crabbe and Goyle's weight probably had something to do with that, but held her tongue.

Goyle reached over to take a Chocolate Frog from Ron's side. Ron leapt forward, but before even touched him, Goyle screamed. Scabbers was hanging off of his fingers with his little teeth sunk into Goyle's knuckles. Crabbe and Malfoy backed up as he started swinging the rat around and around to try to get him off while in the midst of letting out horrible yells. The rat finally let go and was thrown against the window. The three left quickly.

Hermione ran in, shouting, "What _has_ been going on?" she looked around at the sweets scattered out on the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said. He looked closer at his rat before saying in shock, "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."

They all sat back down. "You two have met Malfoy before?" Ron asked them.

Amelia nodded. Harry explained how they had run into him at Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family. They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared," Ron said darkly. "Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He looked as if he was going to say more, but he turned to Hermione, who was still standing at the door, and asked her, "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there." She said. "You haven't been fighting, have you? We'll all be in trouble before we even get there!"

Amelia nodded, thinking something along the same lines. "Scabbers has been fighting, not us," Ron defended, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving childishly, racing up and down the corridors – are you really going to change with them Amelia?" she asked in disbelief.

She shook her head, grabbing her things from her trunk. "Absolutely not. Would you mind showing me where I could, though, Hermione?" Amelia asked.

"Of course – And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?" Hermione said to Ron, pointing to her nose. She walked out of the compartment with Amelia trailing behind her. She led her down the corridor to one of the bathrooms. "You can change here. I'll make sure no one bothers you," she said in a friendly voice.

Amelia smiled. "Thanks," she said. Inside, she changed into her robes along with the Hogwarts shirt that she had made earlier in the week. She smiled, looking in the mirror at her reflection. Her black shirt had the Hogwarts crest on it. It made her smile, feeling like she was going somewhere big. She supposed she was – like Hermione had said, Hogwarts was the best school of witchcraft that existed, most likely.

She stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "I like your shirt, did you make it?" Hermione asked, walking with her back to the compartment.

"Yeah," Amelia responded, opening the door.

A voice rang through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

As Hermione walked back to her compartment, Amelia noticed that Harry and Ron looked pale with nerves. "You two can't be that scared. We haven't even arrived yet!" she said as they shoved the last of the candy into their pockets.

"Where did you get that shirt?" Ron exclaimed.

Amelia looked down at it. "I made it."

"It's wicked!"

"It's just the Hogwarts crest." Amelia couldn't see why it was so cool to him.

"Could you make me one?" he asked. The three of them stepped out of the compartment and into the crowd of other students crowding through the corridors.

"Of course I can, as soon as I have a sewing machine and a shirt your size. Should I make it red to match your hair?" she teased.

Ron frowned. "Not funny." Harry found it funny, though, smiling.

The train came to a stop and people pushed their way through the doors and out into the damp night air. A lamp shone over the heads of the students and Harry and Amelia heard a very familiar voice. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry? Amelia?" Hagrid said, spotting them even in the crowd.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

The first years slipped and stumbled down the wet steps, trailing after Hagrid down the narrow and steep path. Nobody could see on either side of them, most likely covered by a thick foliage of trees. Nobody spoke, but Neville, who still hadn't found his toad, sniffled every now and then.

"Yeh'll get your firs' sights o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called out to them. "jus' round this bend here."

The narrow path suddenly opened up, revealing a large, black lake at the end of it. On the top of the mountain at the other side of the lake and starry sky, was a large castle with many turrets and towers. The entire pack of first years let out a loud, "Oooooh!"

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid told them, pointing to the whole fleet of boats sitting on the shore. Harry and Ron went into their own boat. Amelia went to follow, but a pale arm came out, pulling her aside. Neville and Hermione took her spot.

She turned and found Malfoy staring at her with a strange smile, the very large Crabbe and Goyle standing next to him. "Need a spot?" he asked her. Amelia sighed and followed them to a boat, figuring it'd be better to cross than stay stranded on the shore.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted from his own boat. "Right then – FORWARD!"

The boats went out across the surprisingly smooth lake, all the first years gazing up at the castle that towered above them.

"Do you have any family that went to Hogwarts?" Malfoy asked her.

She turned around and nodded. "My mother was in Ravenclaw and my father was in Gryffindor." She said. Draco seemed angry, or maybe disappointed, so she added, "My uncle was in Slytherin, though, along with my aunt."

He smiled. "My father told me about the Warrington family." He said, surprising Amelia.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Said that they were a lazy family that didn't stick to one thing – couldn't even stay in one house, they were so messed up." She scowled and opened her mouth, about to mouth him off, but he continued, "But I can't agree with that. You seem all right – a little nerdy, but all right." He reclined against the back of the boat.

She didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. "Thank you…?" she said uncertainly.

He went to say more, but Hagrid shouted, "Heads down!" as their boats carried them under a heavy curtain of ivy growing along the cliff face. They were carried into a dark tunnel that seemed to go underneath the school, as they arrived on a kind of underground harbor covered with sharp rocks and pebbles. Amelia jumped out of the boat as fast as she could, running over to find Harry and Ron. She spotted them, thanking Ron that he had such bright hair.

"There you are! Thought you got dragged off by Malfoy," Ron said, as she ran up next to him.

"I think I just developed a very strong dislike for him. 'My father told me about your family'," she said, imitating his voice. The boys laughed.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Hagrid said as he checked the boats as they stepped out of them.

Neville cried out, "Trevor!" holding his hands out eagerly.

They all walked up a passageway in the rock with Hagrid leading them by his lamp. They came out onto smooth, damp grass at the base of the castle. They walked up a set of stone steps and crowded around the large oak door that served as the entrance to the castle.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid asked, checking to make sure that the whole group was there.

He raised his massive fist and banged on the door three times.

* * *

(1) – Football meaning the English football, so it refers to American soccer. FYI.


	3. I: The Sorting Hat

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 3 – The Sorting Hat

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

The enormous door swung open, revealing a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes standing before them, wearing a stern face. She gave off the impression that she was not someone to be messed with, and neither Amelia nor Harry wanted to test it. It was better to stay on her good side than establish themselves as troublemakers.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door behind her open wide, exposing the entrance hall to the first years. It was a massive foyer, with lit torches flaming along the walls with a ceiling that was nearly impossible to see from the ground. A brilliant marble staircase faced them, leading to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. Before long, they could hear the mumbled sound of hundreds of voices from a doorway off to the right where the rest of the school was located, chattering away to each other. McGonagall showed the first years into an empty chamber off the hall. They crowded around each other, looking around. Some were nervous, being in such a big place, but Amelia couldn't have been happier walking through the halls. She felt a large smile come to her face as she stared at the next door in front of them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall greeted them. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She glanced over at Neville, who had his cloak buttoned under his left ear, and at Ron, who still had a smudge on his nose. Amelia watched as many of the girls tried to brush through their hair with their fingers. Even Harry was nervously trying to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," McGonagall said before she left the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Amelia.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Jacob wouldn't tell me."

"I think it's some sort of test. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking," Ron said.

"It's probably a magic test," Amelia said, putting a hand to her chin, running through the possible things they could put them through. "Maybe we have to take a personality test? Or maybe give a speech?" she said to herself.

She started listing off more possibilities when a scream went off behind them.

"What the-?" Amelia started to say, cut off by her gasp.

The whole crowd gasped as about twenty ghosts streamed through the back wall. The glided across the room, shimmering in the night air. The group of ghosts seemed to be arguing with each other. One of the fatter ones was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" One of them stopped when he spotted to group of first years.

Nobody dared to answer them. Amelia, herself, hoped that if they didn't move, maybe they wouldn't see them.

"New students!" the Friar said, smiling to them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few nodded, but the majority of them stayed where they were, frozen as statues. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house you know."

"Move along, now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start," They turned around and faced Professor McGonagall. The ghosts disappeared back through the wall. "Now, form a line and follow me."

Harry got in line behind a sandy-haired boy, Amelia going behind him, and Ron behind her. They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through the gargantuan doors into the Great Hall.

Amelia stared in wonder as they walked into the Hall. She couldn't remember ever seeing a grander sight anywhere before. It looked to belong to royalty, the room, with thousands and thousands of candles floating above four long tables that took up the majority of the room. The rest of the students watched as they walked in. The tables had sparkling plates and cups of gold in front of each student. At the top of the hall was where the teachers sat. Amelia glanced at them, looking to her future professors. At one end was a man with dark hair and an even darker expression – she guessed him to be Professor Snape, the potions teacher.

Professor McGonagall brought them to a stop, facing the students with the teachers at their backs. Amelia saw Harry look upward and followed his gaze, keeping herself from laughing at seeing the stars laid out above them. She heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_." Amelia found it hard to see the ceiling and could hardly believe that there was one to begin with. It was as if the Great Hall opened up to the stars above.

McGonagall placed a stool in front of the first years, snapping Amelia out of her thoughts. She stared at the pointy hat on the seat of the stool. It was patched and frayed and completely filthy, a dirty thing. Amelia leaned over to Harry's ear and whispered, "Maybe we have to pull out a magic rabbit or a dove."

Harry glanced over his shoulder, smiling. "I was just thinking the same thing," he whispered back.

She turned back to the hat and, as the entire Hall grew quiet, wondered if something was supposed to happen. Just then, the hat twitched and a rip near the brim of the hat opened, opening wide like a mouth. Then, the hat began to sing.

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just as loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin _

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The hall burst into applause as the hat's song came to a close. It bowed to each table before becoming still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Amelia laughed. "If that was the case, we'd all be in Hufflepuff."

Harry smiled. Trying on the hat surely was easier than anything else he had imagined, but doing so in front of the school seemed embarrassing.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long scroll. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. She looked down and read off the first name. "Abbot, Hannah!"

Hannah walked up to the stool. She had two blonde pigtails on the sides of her pink face. She placed the hat on her head, it nearly coming down to cover her eyes, and sat down.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted. The table on the right broke out in loud cheers for her as she ran over to sit with her house. The ghost of the Fat Friar waved to her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted again. She hurried off to sit next to Hannah at the Hufflepuff table.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The second table from the left erupted in loud applause; many of the Ravenclaws stood to shake Terry's hand as he walked over.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

This time, the table to the far left blew up with cheers like a volcano. The Weasley twins were easily seen as they whopped to Lavender as she sat down.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Amelia watched as Millicent walked over to the Slytherin table wearing an evil sort of smile. She looked at the other Slytherins wearing their green uniforms and prayed that she wouldn't get placed there. They looked mean and intimidating.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Amelia watched the hat, noticing that it sometimes found it very easy to place somebody, or sometimes, would sit on top of the students' head for a while before shouting out a name. She wondered if it had to do with reading their personalities, or maybe their thoughts. Anything was better than having to wrestle the troll Ron had mentioned.

"Finnigan, Seamus!"

The hat sat on top of his head from at least a minute before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!" She ran to the stool and eagerly slapped the hat on top of her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Ron groaned.

"Longbottom, Neville!" Neville tripped on his way up to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide for him.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Neville ran off with the hat still on his head. He had to jog back to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

"Malfoy, Draco!"

Malfoy sat down on the stool, with that evil Slytherin smile on his face, and had his wish granted instantly; the hat hadn't even touched his head before shouting, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy ran off to the Slytherin table, joining his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, looking very pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left as the last few names were left on the list: "Moon"…, "Nott…, "Parkinson"…, then the twins "Patil" and "Patil"…, then "Perks, Sally-Anne"…

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped towards the stool, whispers echoed off the walls of the Great Hall, like little candles with loud flames.

"_Potter_, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

Amelia watched as he dropped the hat on his head, it going past his eyes and covering his view of the students looking around each other to snag a peak at the famous boy. She watched the hat talk to Harry, almost mumbling with the small flap of a mouth barely opening when it talked. Harry's hands were gripping the stool hard.

"Better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry took the hat off and shakily walked over to the Gryffindor table. Amelia smiled at him as he glanced over before turning away to sit down. He got the loudest cheer yet out of everybody. She watched the Weasley twins jump up and down, shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

There were only five people left. Amelia sighed, leaning over to on leg as she waited as another student – who was not her – was called over to the stool. "Thomas, Dean" joined Harry at the Gryffindor table, and "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw.

"Warrington, Amelia!"

Amelia smiled, running over to the stool. She sat and put the hat on her head, bursting with excitement. She saw Harry and Ron, along with Hermione and Malfoy watching with anticipation.

Then there was a voice talking to her. "Hmm, what an interesting young girl you are." She realized it was the hat talking and stared up into it in curiosity. "Loyal, brave, outgoing…yes…intelligent…you'd be good in Ravenclaw…Hufflepuff would suit you as well…or maybe Slytherin," The hat was silent for another moment, mumbling too soft for Amelia to hear.

At last, after sitting there for over three minutes, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Amelia laughed and ran over to join Harry and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. They smiled as they scooted over, making room for her.

"Congratulations, Amelia!" Hermione said.

"Thanks."

"Weasley, Ronald!"

They were all silent as Ron sat on the stool, placing the hat on his head. He looked pale and green, like he was about to be sick.

A second later, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" again.

The three of them clapped and cheered as Ron walked over, looking extremely relieved as he collapsed in the seat next to them.

"Well done, Ron, excellent." An older read-head, the Gryffindor prefect – who Amelia guessed to be Ron's brother, Percy – said to him in congratulations.

"Zabini, Blaise!" Was the last name McGonagall called. He was made a Slytherin. She rolled up the scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Amelia turned to look at the empty plates in front of them and was wishing that she had something to drink. She had eaten nothing but candy on the train and her throat was parched, nearly burning for any liquid to drink. Next to her, Harry looked to be starving.

Before anyone could eat or drink. Albus Dumbledore got to his feet, beaming at the students with his arms open wide. He seemed very pleased to see everybody sitting in front of him.

"Welcome!" he said to the students. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down and everybody clapped and cheered for him.

Amelia giggled. "He sure is one of the best speakers of our time," she joked.

"Is he – a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy.

"Mad? He's a genius!" Percy replied. "Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Amelia watched Harry pile the food onto his plate as if he had never eaten before, smiling as he stuffed the food in his mouth. "Don't make yourself sick, Harry," she warned, taking a bit on the chicken and mashed potatoes herself.

"I'm starving," he said between bites.

"The food isn't going any-," she started, but as she watched Ron eat from the other side of her, she changed her mind. "Never mind."

Harry swallowed and smiled. Amelia took a large bite out of her potatoes, chewing the delicious food with a pleasant look of bliss on her face.

"Enjoying the food yourself, are you?" Harry teased back.

"A little."

"That does look good," said one of the ghost, watching the Gryffindors eating.

"Can't you-?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," the ghost said. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I've heard of you," Amelia said. "My cousin told me about you – Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicholas Mimsy -," Sir Nicholas began.

Seamus interrupted, asking, "_Nearly _Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked miffed at the first years for asking such questions. "Like _this_," he said, seizing his left ear and pulling his head to the side. It swung over to his shoulder as if wearing a hinge on one end. He seemed pleased with the shocked looks on all their faces and the disgusted and horrified look on Amelia's. He flopped his head back into place. "So – New Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."

Amelia looked over to the Slytherin table, noticing the ghost sitting next to Malfoy. He had blank eyes, a gaunt face, and his robes were stained silver with blood. "How did he get covered in blood?" Amelia asked, though, slightly afraid to hear the answer.

"I've never asked," Sir Nicholas replied.

As soon as the students had eaten their fill, the remains faded from the plates, leaving them as clean as they were when the first years had first sat down. Dessert appeared on the plates a moment later. There was ice cream of every flavor, apple pies, doughnuts of every shape and size, strawberries, pudding, enough to make Amelia sick just looking at everything.

So, naturally, she grabbed all the strawberries she could along with a scoop of ice cream.

She bit off the end of one and dipped in a small tray of chocolate, savoring the delicious treat running down her throat. The conversation had turned from the topic of the ghosts of the castle to the students' family.

"I'm half-and-half," Seamus said. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." Laughter broke out across the table.

"What about you, Neville?" Ron asked.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch, but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages." He said. "My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faced when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my own toad."

Amelia laughed. "You sure have a weird family, Neville," she said.

Harry turned to her, biting into treacle tart. "What about you, Amelia? What's your family like?" he asked her.

She set down the green ends of her strawberry and took a sip out of her cup – milk. "Well, magic's been in my family for generations. My father was a Gryffindor, actually. I have an uncle who was in Slytherin, though, but we don't see him often. He scares me," Everybody laughed. "My mother was in Ravenclaw, though. They were both ecstatic when I got my letter. They both work for the Ministry of Magic, too. My father works in discovering Muggle things, and my mother…well, I don't know what she does. She works directly with the Minister, though, so it has to be important work."

"So you're a pureblood?" Ron asked.

She shrugged. "If you want to call it that. Personally, I think 'pureblood' sounds like a very selfish term, as if I'm somehow better than anyone else. I prefer to call myself a 'person whose family knows way too much about everything for their own good.' It's a bit annoying, really. Not a day goes by where my mother doesn't come home with a rumor going around to – can I have that, Harry?" she trailed off, pointing to the piece of pineapple on the side of his plate. He nodded, letting her take it.

On the other side of Harry, Hermione was talking to Percy about classes. "I _do _hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interest in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult-,"

"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing." Percy replied.

"I'm looking forward to Potions," Amelia said.

Percy laughed. "You say that now, but wait until you meet Professor Snape. He'll scare you out of the classroom quick."

"Ouch!" Harry said, clapping a hand to his head.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked, staring at him in concern. "What is it?"

"N-nothing," he stuttered. "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape." He said. Amelia looked over and started at the dark-looking teacher. "He teaches potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Amelia shrugged. "He doesn't look so bad – reminds me of my uncle."

"The one that scares you?" Ron teased from across the table.

"Yep."

The dessert's disappeared, finally – Amelia was starting to get sick – and Dumbledore got to his feet. The hall quieted instantly. "Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His eyes were on the Weasley twins, who grinned mischievously in return.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry and Percy talked about why Dumbledore didn't give a reason for why the third-hand corridor was banned before Dumbledore continued on.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" he exclaimed. He picked up his wand and gave it a flick, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, twisting itself into the words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!"

The school rang out with the singing of every student – not all were very pleasant to listen too, but Dumbledore smiled the entire time.

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing, _

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest, _

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Each student finished the song at different times until the Weasley twins were the only ones left, singing to a slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted the last few lines for them before clapping the loudest out of those who did clap for the twins.

"Ah, music," he said. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years tailed after Percy through the crowds and out of the Great Hall, up a marble staircase. Amelia stared in fascination at the pictures along the wall, whispering to each other and some even moving from picture to picture. They had to climb more staircases, and by that time Amelia felt as if she were already asleep, merely sleepwalking until her body found a soft surface to lie on.

They came to a halt. There was a bunch of walking sticks floating in front of them. As Percy took a step forward, they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice and said, "Peeves – show yourself."

A loud sound, almost like the air being let out of a balloon, was the only sound in reply.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a simple pop and a little man with dark, wicked eyes floated in the air, cross-legged, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he cackled. "Ickle firsties! What fun!" He swooped down at them and everybody ducked to dodge.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" Percy ordered.

Peeves stuck out his tongue before disappearing, the walking sticks dropping to the floor. Most of them landed on Neville's head.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," Percy warned as they continued on their way. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor they stood in was a painting of an fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," Percy said. The portrait swung open revealing the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room with squishy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls to their dormitory and the boys to another. At the top of the spiral staircase at the back of the rooms, they found their beds – five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks were laid out at the foot of each of their beds. All the girls in their dormitory were so excited to finally be at Hogwarts, and started talking about all the interesting things they had found, who they had met, and a few talked about any cute guys they seen.

Amelia would have joined in on the conversation, but she was exhausted and changed into her pajamas before falling asleep instantly.


	4. I: The Potions Master

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 4 – The Potions Master

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

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"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the tall kid with the red hair and that girl."

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

Amelia groaned, quickly finding that walking to class with Harry was a trip in itself. Students were peaking around each other and taking double looks as they walked by with Ron. She tried to push Harry out of the crowded places so that he wouldn't get bombarded with questions and stares and whispered, hurrying him along to class. He was usually grateful, tired of being so well known himself.

That wasn't the only problem they encountered on their first few days at Hogwarts. Getting to classes was a nightmare. There were a hundred and forty-two staircases. Some were narrow, some were rickety, and every single one of them changed direction frequently. Some even had vanishing steps halfway up them that you had to remember to jump or step over. There were doors, too, that wouldn't open unless you asked nicely, or tickled them in the right spot, and some doors that were really walls simply disguised as doors to trick people.

The ghosts didn't always help, either. Sir Nicholas, though, was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist would pull pranks on anybody. He was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase instead of running into him. One the first day, Amelia had the rug pulled out from under her feet and was dizzy for a few minutes after hitting her head on the concrete.

The only thing worse than Peeves was Argus Filch, the caretaker. He had a cat named Mrs. Norris with dust-colored fur that had bulging, lamp-like eyes exactly like Filch's. They had gotten on his bad side one day after getting lost and accidentally trying to open the door to the forbidden third floor. Filch didn't believe them when they told him they had gotten lost, but Professor Quirrell had rescued them as he was walking by.

Once they have managed to find their classrooms, the classes themselves were a nightmare. Every Wednesday night, they studied the night sky through their telescopes and had to learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they had Herbology in the greenhouses behind the castle with Professor Sprout, where they learned all about strange plants and fungi and how to take care of them.

They found that the most boring class was History of Magic, the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns talked on and on in his monotonous voice, making them scribble down names and dates in order to remember everything. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a very small man that had to stand on a pile of books to see the entire class. Amelia had seemed to get on his good side, somehow, apparently because he thought her mother was one of the best students he had ever had. Ron had said he was a biased dwarf. Amelia had slapped him on the head for that.

Professor McGonagall was different. She was strict and clever and had given them a warning speech the first day. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She then changed her desk into a pig and back again, but dimmed all their hopes of doing the same by saying that they wouldn't be changing furniture into animals for a very long time. She had them copy down long, complicated notes before given each of them a match and given the instructions to turn it into a needle. Only Hermione managed to make hers look like a needle, the match going long, sharp and silver, but Amelia's had changed from the wood color to silver as well. She was disappointed, and whined that she didn't like Transfigurations to begin with.

The class that the majority of the student body was looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Most were disappointed that Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a joke. His room smelled like garlic, and the rumor was that it was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would come back to get him. After hearing this, Amelia had wondered why anyone would get rid of a vampire because they were such interesting creatures. Most of the Gryffindor table had stared at her weirdly after that.

Friday marked a milestone for Ron, Harry, and Amelia, for they had finally managed to go down to breakfast without getting lost at all.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins." Ron replied. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them – we'll be able to see if it's true."

"Finally!" Amelia said. "I've been looking forward to this all week!"

"Just don't get us in trouble." Ron said.

"Me? Get us in trouble – Ron, you are incredibly mistaken. I wasn't the one that wandered to the third-floor corridor."

"You just can't let that go, can you?"

Just then, the mail arrived. Harry hadn't gotten anything yet, but Amelia would get letters from her family. Her owl, the black one that she had named Erwin, loved to fly down and stay for awhile, pecking away at whatever she didn't eat at whatever meal he was present at. Today was a surprise, though, for Harry had a letter dropped into his lap. He read over it then snatched Ron's quill to write a reply. Amelia read through her letters then stuffed them in the side of her bag before getting up with the other two boys and walking down to the dungeons for Potions.

Snape's room was colder than most of the castle and had pickled animals floating in glass jars around the walls. Harry and Ron had to restrain Amelia multiple times from touching something that she found particularly fascinating in the room – which happened at least every minute.

Snape started class by taking roll and stopped at Harry's name, like many other teachers had.

"Ah, yes," he said. "Harry Potter. Our new – _celebrity_."

Draco Malfoy, from the other side of the room, and his friends Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind their hands. Snape continued roll call, stopping at Amelia's name.

"Warrington…" he whispered to himself, snapping his head up to stare at her. "Ah, yes. You must be Anne-Marie's daughter." He said. "One of the worst students I have ever met."

Amelia frowned, trying not to glare at Snape as he went back to roll call. Malfoy laughed as well. Once Snape was done, he put the list aside and turned his dark, cold eyes to the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began, speaking in a whisper. They could hear him throughout the class, however, because no one dared to speak while he did. Amelia was on the edge of her seat, eagerly looking up in anticipation. Ron shook his head, thinking her mental for liking such a subject. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed his introduction speech. Amelia, though she said nothing, had bright eyes. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat, ready to prove herself worthy of being in the class.

"Potter!" Snape said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry looked confused, glancing at Ron who was equally as puzzled. Hermione and Amelia's hands shot high into the air.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said.

"Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored to girls' hands.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione tried to stretch her hand farther into the air, while Amelia waited patiently to be called on. Harry honestly hoped that Snape would direct his attentions towards her, since she clearly seemed to know her stuff, and he didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. Malfoy and his friends were shaking in their chairs with laughter.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" he asked again.

At this point, Hermione stood with her hand stretching up towards the dungeon ceiling. Amelia switched hands, putting the other into the air patiently.

"I don't know," Harry said. "But Amelia and Hermione seem to, why don't you try them?"

A few people laughed, but Snape was not pleased. "Sit down," he snapped to Hermione. Amelia quietly put her arm down, feeling dejected that he didn't call on her after she had made sure that she had went through the Potions textbook ahead of time. "Miss Warrington, do you know, or are you as lazy and idiotic as your parents were?"

Amelia felt that that comment was uncalled for and tried not to show any emotion towards it. "Asphodel and wormwood make a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Dead. A bezoar is a stone found in the stomach of a goat and will save someone from most poisons. Monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, also known as aconite." She answered.

Snape looked somewhat surprise – pleased, maybe…almost – that she had known the answers as if she had picked them out of his head. She kept her head down, afraid that he would insult her again.

"Correct," he said. Amelia's head snapped up and she smiled one of those contagious smiles. Harry saw many others smile along with her after looking at her. Malfoy was whispering something to Crabbe – or Goyle, it was hard to tell them apart -, looking back and forth towards her every now and then. Ron scowled. Amelia had become like a little sister to him and Harry – one who know how to get on most of the teachers' good sides, which was important to not failing, in Ron's mind – and he didn't like someone attacking her.

"One point will be taken from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter." Snape looked around the class. "Why aren't any of you writing that down?" The whole class started rummaging around for quills and parchment.

The rest of the class didn't look too good for any of the Gryffindors, although Amelia seemed to redeem her family's name with every activity and assignment. She earned plenty of points for Gryffindor, but they were taken away just as quickly by something Snape said Harry did wrong. Snape put the class into groups to make a simple potion to cure boils, sweeping along the room in his black cloak. Amelia sat next to Ron as his partner, slapping his hand when he went to do something wrong or add something at the wrong time. She and Malfoy were the only ones that Snape didn't criticize, though Malfoy, because he was a Slytherin, was used as the class example more than once. He had told the class to watch the way Malfoy stewed his horned slugs when clouds of green smoke filled the dungeon with a loud hissing. Amelia looked over, staring at Neville, who had managed to melt Seamus's cauldron, and their potion was seeping across the floor, burning holes in shoes, making the whole class stand on their stools. Neville had drenched himself in the potion and collapsed in pain, red boils springing up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled. With a flick of his wand, the potion was gone from the floor. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered, boils popping up over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," he snapped at Seamus.

He rounded at Harry, who had been working with his partner next to Neville. "You – Potter – why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked the back of his chair from behind him. "Don't push it. I've heard Snape can turn very nasty," he muttered quietly.

They climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later. Harry and Ron were both angry at how class had gone, but Amelia couldn't have been happier.

"You have to be mental to like that guy," Ron said as they made their way over to Hagrid's. Harry had told them earlier that day that he was going to meet him for tea, and they had both eagerly wanted to go as well. "His class is insane!"

She shrugged. "I found it rather easy."

Ron scoffed. "Cheer up," he said, turning to Harry. "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George."

They walked out to Hagrid's small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. Harry knocked on the door and there was a frantic scrabbling from the inside, along with several loud barks. "_Back_, Fang – _back_." Hagrid said.

He opened the door and said "Hang on. _Back_, Fang"

He let them in at last, holding back an enormous boarhound by the collar. Hagrid's house had only one room with hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling, and a copper kettle was boiling on an open fire. In the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt. "Make yourselves at home," Hagrid greeted them. He let go of Fang and the dog went straight for Ron and started licking his ears.

"This is Ron," Harry said, introducing him. Hagrid started pouring the boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh?" Hagrid said. "I spent half my life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

Ron and Harry ate the rock cakes, pretending to like them as they told Hagrid about their first lessons. Amelia politely declined, saying how she didn't like cake or raisons, and how they made her sick to her stomach. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee, drooling all over his robes.

Harry and Ron earned a new respect for Hagrid when he called Filch "that old git."

"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her – Filch puts her up to it." Hagrid said.

When they told Hagrid about Snape and what had happened in class, Hagrid told him not to worry about it, that Snape never like any of his students.

"But he seemed to really _hate_ me."

"He doesn't hate me," Amelia said.

Ron snorted. "That's because you're a teacher's pet." She slapped his arm.

"There's no reason why Snape should hate you," Hagrid said, trying to be of some comfort to Harry. But for some reason, Hagrid never met Harry's eyes as he said this.

"How's yer cousin, Amelia?" Hagrid said.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him at all."

"An' how's yer brother Charlie?" he asked Ron. "I liked him a lot – great with animals."

Amelia watched Harry, who still seemed down about Potions, as he picked up the newspaper on the table. He seemed interested in some event that had happened, so she leaned over his shoulder to read the paper.

**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

Amelia furrowed her eyebrows, remembering that Ron had mentioned the break-in on the train earlier that week.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed. Amelia winced, scooting away from him and rubbing her ear. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

Hagrid didn't meet Harry's eyes again, grunting and offering him another cake from the plate. He declined and the three got up, saying goodbye to Hagrid and that they had to get back to the castle before dark.


	5. I: The Midnight Duel

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 5 – The Midnight Duel

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

Amelia generally got along with most people, or at least managed to avoid being hated by certain people, and that included Draco Malfoy. She had noticed Harry and Ron's intense dislike for him and understood it completely, but couldn't find the heart to say or do some of the things that the boys had threatened. Throwing Fred and George's joke firecrackers at Malfoy seemed pretty cruel. Still, that didn't mean that she enjoyed being in his company. Thankfully, she only had to endure him during Potions, and her love of the subject made her forget any grudge she had as soon as she stepped into the room and smelled the brewing cauldrons that she had come to look forward to.

That was, until the flying lessons schedules were posted in the Gryffindor common room. They would start on Thursday, and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Typical," Harry said as he read it. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," Ron said.

"Exactly. Besides, who says Malfoy's any good? He always talks about how good he is at Quidditch, but it could be all talk," Amelia said. She smirked. "Although, his hair looks very aerodynamic, so he may have some speed advantages."

Harry and Ron laughed.

Malfoy did talk about flying a lot, and loved to complain about how first years never made the house teams. Amelia had overheard him telling long, boastful stories that always ended up with him narrowly being seen by Muggles in helicopters. But the bragging wasn't limited to him alone – nearly every boy in Gryffindor talked about flying on a daily basis. Seamus's stories always involved him spending his childhood on brooms. Even Ron bragged about how he almost hit a hang glider on his brother Charlie's broom. She didn't see why that made him so prideful – if anything, it sounded dangerous.

Neville, though, had never been on a broomstick. Personally, Amelia thought that that was for the best. Neville had enough trouble staying out of danger without having to worry about loosing control on a broomstick; keeping his feet safely on the ground was hard enough for him.

Hermione was nervous about flying, though, since it was possibly the one thing that couldn't be learned through a book. That didn't stop her from trying, of course. She had borrowed _Quidditch Through the Ages_ from the library, and her and Neville had tried to find some tips to keep from falling off their brooms come Thursday.

Amelia, on the other hand, was terrified to fly. She had tried once on Jacob's broom, and had nearly crashed through a window. Ever since, she had given up, accepting that she just didn't have the talent for it. Maybe Madam Hooch would understand.

Hermione was giving another flying lecture when the mail came that morning. Erwin flew down gracefully to land on Amelia's outstretched arm, a small package in its beak. She took it out of its mouth and Erwin flew off again. Unwrapping the paper, she shook the small box in her hand. Something shook around inside. There was a card taped to the top of it. She tore it off and read:

_Amelia,_

_I hope you're not too absorbed in school to remember your birthday. Seeing as how you didn't tell us what you wanted, we went shopping and picked out the first thing we saw that we knew would keep you busy. Make sure you write back._

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

She smiled, setting the card down. Harry looked over at it, seeing the festive balloons on the cover, and glanced at her curiously. "It's your birthday?" he asked.

She nodded. "Don't worry about it though. You didn't let me get you anything, so you don't need to get me anything." She said.

"Happy Birthday, then," he said, watching as she unwrapped the package.

"Thanks."

The box flipped open on top and pulled out the present. It was a simple, black journal. She frowned, flipping through it. "Like I'm going to keep a diary," she muttered.

A barn owl brought Neville a package from his grandmother. It was a marble-sized glass ball filled with white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he said. "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh…" The Remembrall was suddenly glowing a scarlet. "…you've forgotten something…"

Neville was busily trying to remember what he had forgotten when Draco, passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hands. Harry and Ron instantly jumped to their feet, probably looking for a reason to fight with him, but Professor McGonagall walked up quickly.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," Neville said.

Malfoy reluctantly gave it back with a scowl on his face.

"Just looking," he said.

He was about to walk away when he stopped and pull something out of his robes, handing it over to Amelia. "Happy Birthday," he said with one of his creepy snake-like smiles. He walked away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

Amelia stared at the box curiously.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"It's your birthday?" Ron nearly shouted. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged at him. "Should I open it, or do you think it's poisoned?" she asked Harry.

He laughed. "It might be safe to throw it away, just in case."

She shook her head. "No, that'd be rude."

She held the small package as far away from her as she could while opening it. There was a purple ribbon on top that she pulled out of the bow, setting it aside carefully. She lifted the flaps on top and pulled out the present. It was a small, blue orb with white glitter on it.

She held it up to her face. "What is it?" she asked, turning it around.

"Does it matter? Malfoy gave it to you! It's probably full of dark magic," Ron said, taking a bite out of his toast.

"Whatever it is, it's pretty," she said, smiling. "I'm keeping it."

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but a message soon faded onto the edge in gold writing. It read _Happy Birthday_.

Hermione looked up and took one glance at it before saying, "It's a message orb."

Amelia turned to her. "A what?"

"A message orb. They come in sets of two, they're for sending messages between people."

"See? I knew he was up to no good," Ron said with his mouth full.

"It's just messages. It's not like he's spying on me through it," Amelia said. "Besides, it's shiny," she added with a goofy smile.

Hermione and Ron shook their heads.

* * *

Three-thirty came faster than Amelia had hoped for. Harry, Ron, and most of the Gryffindors hurried out of the castle to the grounds for their first lesson. Amelia trudged along in the back, dragging her feet. Seamus saw her and shook his head, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along to catch up with everyone else.

"Don't be such a coward!" he said.

She shook his arm off and walked up next to Harry and Ron, mumbling, "I am not" to herself over and over. By the time they got to the flat lawn where they were to be taught their first lesson, the Slytherins were already there and waiting, along with about twenty brooms laid side by side on the ground. Madam Hooch arrived shortly after, sporting short, gray hair, and watching them with her yellow eyes.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she snapped at them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Amelia looked down at her broom and felt her stomach drop.

"Stick your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch said.

The class chorused 'Up!' loudly. Amelia's broom flew straight up into her hand instantly, a little too hard for her liking though. She let out a silent scream as she struggled to keep hold of the broom. Harry's did the same as well, but Hermione's simply shook and rolled over the ground. Neville's voice shook as he said it, clearly saying he wished to stay grounded than fall to the ground.

Madame Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the ends of them as she walked back and forth, correcting their grips. Amelia, Ron, and Harry had to stifle a laugh when Madam Hooch told Malfoy that he had been flying wrong ever since he had first learned.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly," Madame Hooch said. "One my whistle – three – two - ,"

Neville, nervous about flying in the first place, pushed off hard before the whistle even blew.

"Come back, boy!" She shouted at him. But Neville kept rising, higher and higher above them, before he started sliding sideways off the broom. With a loud thud and a nasty crack, Neville was on the ground in a heap, with his broomstick still flying above them, drifting off to the forbidden forest. Madam Hooch bent over Neville, examining his hand.

"Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come one, boy – it's all right, up you get." Turning to the rest of the class, she said, "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville limped off the field with tears in his eyes, clutching his wrist and letting Madam Hooch lead him to the hospital.

As soon as they were out of range to hear anything, Malfoy burst out in laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The other Slytherins laughed with him.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Parvati Patil snapped to him.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought _you'd _like fat little crybabies, Parvati," Pansy Parkinson said, the one Slytherin girl that looked like a pig more than the others.

"Why don't we break your wrist, see how you feel afterwards?," Amelia said, glaring at her.

Pansy opened her mouth to argue back, but Malfoy interrupted her, shouting, "Look!" and snatching Neville's Remembrall out of the grass. He held it up into the sunlight. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give that here, Malfoy." Harry said quietly. The crowd was instantly hushed, watching the two boys glare at each other.

Malfoy smiled a nasty grin. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find – how about – up a tree?"

"Give it _here_!" Harry yelled at him, but Malfoy quickly leapt onto his broom and took off above the crowd of students. Amelia watched, trying to tell herself that he was just showing off, but couldn't deny that he could fly pretty well.

He hovered next to the highest branches of an oak tree and called out to Harry, "Come and get it, Potter!"

His taunts worked, for Harry grabbed his broom and prepared to go after the blonde boy.

"No!" Hermione shouted at him. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all in trouble."

Harry ignored her, kicking hard off of the ground and soaring up into the air to join Draco. Many of the girls around Amelia started screaming and gasping and whispering together, and Ron whooped up at Harry enthusiastically. He turned his broom to face a shocked Malfoy. "Give it here," he repeated, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

Malfoy looked worried, but replied with his best sneer, "Oh yeah?"

Harry shot at Malfoy on his broom, Draco barely dodging him in time. Harry made a sharp about-face and faced Malfoy again. The people around Amelia were clapping, but she looked up at her friend in worry, hoping that he wouldn't do anything dangerous.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called out.

Malfoy seemed to realize the same thing and shouted, "Catch it if you can, then!" and threw the Remembrall high into the air before it streaked back towards the ground. Harry leaned forward, racing towards the ball. He reached his hand out and caught no more than a foot from the ground, pulling the broom up quickly before he toppled over onto the ground. Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Amelia rushed forward to him along with Ron, but McGonagall's voice cut through al the noise instantly.

"HARRY POTTER!" They turned to find the professor running towards them. "_Never_ – in all my time at Hogwarts -," She was nearly speechless, her glasses flashing furiously at Harry. "-how _dare_ you – might have broken your neck -,"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor-,"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil -,"

"But Malfoy -,"

"That's _enough_, Mr. Weasly. Potter, follow me, now."

Amelia watched as Harry walked away with McGonagall, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant whispers behind her seeming insignificant and unworthy of her attention. She prayed to God that he wouldn't get expelled, but that'd be just her luck, wouldn't it? Her one closest friend that she's known since the first time she even went shopping for school supplies getting kicked out in the first two weeks.

She sighed angrily and plopped down onto the ground, letting her broom sit next to her.

"You think he'll be okay?" she asked Ron as he stood next to her.

He didn't answer, but looked a little worried at the same time. She sighed again and groaned, leaning her had onto her knees.

"Don't be sad about your boyfriend, Warrington," Malfoy voice carried over the crowd as he strutted over with Crabbe and Goyle. "There are plenty of other fish in this sea," he said, staring at her strangely.

She glared at him. "Don't talk to me. I'm angry at you," she said, turning her head to inspect the wall instead.

Ron chuckled, watching Malfoy walk away defeated.

* * *

"You're _joking._"

It was dinnertime when Harry came back, immediately telling Ron about what had happened when he left with McGonagall. Ron was eating a bite out of his steak and kidney pie, but forgot about it in favor of hearing Harry's news.

"_Seeker_? But first years _never_ – you must be the youngest house player in about -," Ron began.

"-a century," Harry finished for him. He shoveled his food into his mouth with unusual enthusiasm. "Wood told me."

Ron was amazed and speechless enough that he just sat there, staring at Harry with his mouth agape.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Of all the things you could do in your first year, it has to be Quidditch?"

"What do you mean, 'of all things'? I'd give anything to be on the team!" Ron said once he could string a thought together.

"Just don't get yourself killed, Harry," Amelia warned, eating a bite of her mashed potatoes. "When's the first game, then?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but I start training next week, only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

"You're actually going to go to a Quidditch game?" Ron asked Amelia dubiously.

"If Harry's playing I have to. It's part of being a good friend, supporting each other," she said. "And it's obviously important to the both of you, so it won't kill me to _watch_."

Ron went to say something, but Fred and George, his older brothers, hurried over to Harry after spotting him. "Well done," said George. "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," Fred said. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

Amelia, even though he didn't know who Wood was, giggled a little at the thought of him skipping.

"Anyway, we've got to go. Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's behind that statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

Before Fred and George were completely gone from the hall, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in their place.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting on the train back to the Muggles?" he said sourly.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," Harry said composedly. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle were far from little, but now that they were in view of the teacher's table, the most they could do was fire threats at the Gryffindors.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," Malfoy said. "Tonight. Wizard's duel, Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," Ron said in Harry's defense. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

Malfoy looked back at his friends, thinking about which one would better pulverize them should he lose. "Crabbe," he said when he finally had decided. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

Malfoy walked away with his beefy friends and Ron and Harry looked at each other.

"What _is_ a wizard's duel?" Harry asked. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Seconds are your replacements if you die in a duel," Amelia said. Harry looked at her in a small bit of horror. "Don't worry. People only die in proper duels, with wizards that actually know spells that can kill. The most you and Malfoy could probably do is send sparks at each other." She took a sip from her goblet. "Then again, a spark could catch your robe on fire, and that's an awful way to go."

Harry blanched at her.

"He probably expected you to refuse, anyway, so I highly doubt anything will happen," Amelia said to comfort him, patting his shoulder.

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"Don't do that," Amelia said disapprovingly.

"Well, if you're so sympathetic, why don't you go after the nasty git?"

"Because I love looking at your face everyday, Ron," Amelia said sarcastically.

"Excuse me," All three of them looked up to find Hermione Granger standing there.

"Can't a person eat in peace at this place?" Ron said.

Hermione ignored him, directing the conversation towards Harry. "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying -,"

"Bet you could," Ron mumbled.

"-and you _musn't _go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," Harry said.

"Good-bye," Ron added. Hermione walked away, holding her head high.

Amelia turned to the boys. "That was unnecessarily rude," she scolded them.

"She needs it, listening in on conversations."

Amelia shook her head, attributing all their foolishness to the simplicity of their gender. Boys.

* * *

Amelia sat up, hearing the boards on the stairs creak. She stared at the door for a minute, listening to the sound, hoping that she was hearing things, but knowing that she wasn't, for the conversation from earlier at dinner came back to her. She had initially thought that they wouldn't meet Malfoy at all, and would choose to stay in bed instead, but they had obviously chose otherwise. She sighed, pushed the covers back, and tiptoed down from the girls' dormitories.

Ron and Harry had almost made it to the portrait hole when Amelia called out, "Freeze!" Both of them turned around, staring at her in half confusion and half relief, probably expecting Hermione to come down and scold them.

"Go back to bed," Ron said, shooing her away with his hands.

She walked over to them in her pajama shorts and tank top, staring them in the eye. "You two are going to get more than yourselves in trouble if you continue to do this."

"Come along then, if you're so worried," Harry said.

Instantly Amelia smiled. "Alright," she said, following them out of the common room. Ron shook his head.

"Why didn't she just ask to come along?" he whispered to Harry, who shrugged.

They stepped out of the portrait hole, lightly making their way towards the trophy room. Amelia stopped suddenly.

Ron and Harry turned around, watching her. "Come on," Ron urged her.

"Ssh!" she whispered, holding a finger to her lips. "I heard something."

"Mrs. Norris?" Ron breathed, squinting in the dark to try and see where the sound could have come from. It wasn't Mrs. Norris, though, it was Neville, who was curled up, fast asleep on the floor. He jerked awake as the three of them came closer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere.'

"How's your arm?" Harry asked.

"Fine," Neville said, showing them his arm. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Good – well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later,"

"Don't leave me!" Neville said, scrambling to get to his feet. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron checked his watch, and then turned to glare at Amelia and Neville. "If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrel told us about, and used it on you."

"I can feel the love," Amelia whispered to Harry. They all walked on towards the trophy room, the moonlight coming in from every window they passed. A few times they jumped when coming around corners, fearing that Filch or Mrs. Norris would be waiting for them.

When they reached the trophy room, Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. Cups, shields, and statues reflected the moonlight from the places on the shelves, all perfectly polished to shine in either gold or silver. They kept to the side of the room, walking along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors for anyone coming inside. Harry took out his wand in case something popped out at them.

As the minutes crept by and midnight passed, Ron checked his watch. "He's late, maybe he's chickened out," he whispered.

Suddenly, a noise in the corner of the room made the four of them jump. No one had time to raise his or her wand before a voice spoke out – and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner," Filch said to his cat, Mrs. Norris.

Harry waved madly at the others to follow him out of the trophy room as quick as was possible. They scurried towards the door, away from Filch. They had barely whipped around the corner when they heard Filch enter the room.

"They're in here somewhere," he muttered, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the rest of the horrified group. They began to creep down the long hallway full of suits of armor lining both sides of the wall. They could hear Filch getting closer behind them. Neville let out a squeak and broke out into a run, tripping, and bringing Ron down with him, toppling right into a suit of armor. The clanging was enough to wake more than the teachers.

"RUN!" Harry shouted, the four of them sprinting down the gallery, not looking back to see if Filch was following or not, only trying to reach the common room in time – they ran through one corridor after another without a clue in what direction they were going. They ran straight through a tapestry and into a hidden passageway, coming out near the Charms classroom, which they knew was a fair distance from the trophy room.

They stopped for a moment and leaned against the wall to try and catch their breath. "I think we've lost him," Harry panted. Neville bent over, wheezing his lungs out.

Amelia panted, feeling as if she was having an asthma attack. "If we're caught, you two are _so _dead," she threatened.

"You came with us, remember?" Ron shot back, his breathing irregular. "We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," she said to Harry. "He was never going to face you – he must have tipped Filch off that someone would be in the trophy room."

Harry nodded in agreement, not able to deny it. "Let's go."

It sounded simpler than it was. They had run through so many different halls that they were lost, unable to tell where they were. They decided to simply walk until they found a recognizable place. They hadn't gone past more than a dozen doors when the knob of one rattled and Peeves shot out of the classroom.

He caught sight of them and squealed in delight.

"Shut up, Peeves – please – you'll get us thrown out," Amelia begged quietly.

The ghost cackled. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you keep you're mouth shut," Amelia threatened, the lack of sleep getting to her temper.

"Should tell Filch, I should," Peeves said in his imitation of a good soul. "It's for your own good, you know."

"That's it!" Amelia snapped, jumping toward the poltergeist.

This was a huge mistake. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Ducking under the transparent figure, they ran full speed into the first door they saw, running into it – it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, pushing at the door helplessly. "We're done for! This is the end!"

They could hear Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves's shouts.

Amelia groaned, pushing Ron out of the way. "This is ridiculous. _Alohomora!_" The lock clicked and the door swung open. The four of them ran through it, shut it, and pressed their ears against the wood, listening for the caretaker.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch said. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please',"

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now _where did they go_?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," Peeves said in a singsong voice.

"All right – _please_."

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" The sound of Peeves rushing away and Filch cursing in his anger came through the door.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay – get_ off_, Neville!" Neville was tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe. "_What_?"

They turned around and saw what had gotten Neville so agitated. It was like walking into a nightmare. It wasn't a room they had run into, like they had originally thought, but a long corridor on the third floor. And it was very clear why it was forbidden. A monstrous dog filled the whole space from ceiling to floor with three pairs of mad eyes, three noses, twitching at the intruders, three mouths with saliva drooling onto the floor from yellow fangs embedded into said mouths.

Amelia groped for the doorknob, deciding that that Filch was better that being eaten alive by that thing.

They fell backward and Harry slammed the door shut. They flew down the corridor, desperate to put as much space between them and the monster behind them. They didn't stop running until they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, staring at their disarrayed pajamas and flushed faces.

"Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout," Harry panted. The portrait swung forward and they stumbled into the common room, collapsing in the armchairs, trembling.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron said. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Amelia caught her breath first, sighing as she leaned against the back of the chair. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?" she asked, her voice a little breathless.

"The floor?" Harry suggested obviously. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its head."

Amelia rolled her eyes. "No, it was standing on a trapdoor, like it was guarding something…" she trailed off, thinking to herself. She shook her head, walking towards the stairs to the girls' dormitories. "At least we're alive. I'm going to bed now. Good night." She said, disappearing back up into her room.

"Night," The boys mumbled.

As the door shut behind her, they could hear Hermione Granger's shouts and screams of disappointment that Amelia had left her bed in the middle of the night to go dueling with 'those two troublemakers'. Amelia evidently told her what happened, for they cringed at her loud shriek.

"YOU DID _WHAT_?"


	6. I: Halloween

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 6 – Halloween 

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

Amelia woke up the next morning and thought that everything that had happened last night had been a dream. There was no three-headed dog in the castle, Filch hadn't chased them halfway around the school, she hadn't been chewed out by Hermione for leaving the common room, and Harry and Ron weren't talking about it like it was the biggest thrill of their lives.

Unfortunately, they were. And that meant that she had actually come face to face with a live Cerberus. She groaned, her face falling to rest on her arms, resting on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron barely noticed her as they chatted animatedly to each other. Harry told him about the package that he had seen Hagrid take out of the vault in Gringotts and how he thought it was beneath the dog, putting even more speculation into why such a small thing would need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," Ron said.

"Or both," Harry said.

But all they had to go on was that the small object was about two inches long, and that wasn't nearly enough to draw a firm conclusion on what it was.

Neville and Hermione both couldn't care less about what was beneath the trap door. Neville was still scared out of his mind about the event and Hermione was refusing to speak to Harry or Ron, even going to lengths to ignore Amelia every now and then, but when Amelia gave her that puppy-dog pout, no one could refuse her. Harry and Ron didn't mind Hermione's cold shoulder, taking her silence as a blessing from her know-it-all lectures she usually gave them.

After the event, all they wanted to do was get back at Malfoy. Even Amelia, with her usually calm countenance and temper didn't argue against them. She agreed – to a degree – that revenge, in this case, could also count as justice.

The owls flooded into the Hall that morning, dropping packages and letters to their owners, but everyone's attention was drawn to a long, thin package carried by six owls. Amelia watched as the owls dropped it in front of Harry's surprised face. A letter dropped on top of it and Harry ripped it open, reading it with a gleeful smile before passing it to Ron to read.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even _touched _one."

"Nimbus Two Thousand?" Amelia asked, staring as the letter finally reached her hands. "What's that?"

"What's that?" Ron said in disbelief. "It's only the best and fastest broom ever made!"

"And this is special because…?"

Ron shook his head. "Well, you _are_ a girl. I don't suppose you'd know about the importance of Quidditch."

Amelia scoffed. "Right, because my intellect is _so_ inferior. Forgive me, Master Ron, I shall never again question your wisdom."

"You are forgiven."

Harry and Ron pulled Amelia out of the hall quickly to go unwrap the broomstick in private before class started, but they were stopped halfway across the entrance hall by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy grabbed the package from Harry.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back at Harry, with jealousy clearly written on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."

Ron rose to the bait. "It's not any old broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron said, grinning at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back at him. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Amelia glared at the blonde, opening her mouth to defend her friends, when Professor Flitwick appeared next to Draco.

"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he said.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," Malfoy said quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," the professor said, smiling at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," Harry said, trying not to laugh with Amelia and Ron at the fury on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it."

They continued on their way, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's horror and confusion.

"Well, it's true," Harry said, still laughing as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team…."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" a voice said from behind them. Hermione stomped up the stairs, looking at them and the package in Harry's hand disapprovingly.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Harry said.

"Yes, don't stop now," Ron said. "it's doing us so much good."

Hermione marched away.

"That was very rude of you two," Amelia scolded them as they set the broom in the boy's dormitory. "She had a point, you know."

"Don't tell me you're siding with her now," Harry said.

Amelia was silent for a moment. "No," she admitted softly.

All through classes that day, Amelia saw Harry's restlessness. There were times when he would impatiently tap his foot waiting for the bell to ring, or he would shoot glances at Ron and then the door, anxious to get back to Gryffindor tower and open the package. She stepped on his foot more than once to get him to pay attention to the teachers. He would stare at her sadly, but return his focus to the board. A few minutes would pass and she'd find him tapping his feet again.

He and Ron bolted their dinner down before dragging Amelia away to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand.

"Wow," Ron said in wonder as the broomstick rolled onto Harry's bed.

Amelia stared at it, trying to see what was so wonderful about it. It was sleek and shiny with a tail or neat, straight twigs, and had the words Nimbus Two Thousand written at the top of the handle in gold writing. To her, it looked nothing more than a fancy stick, but she knew from hanging around with her cousin Jacob that the more stuck-up the stick looked, the more important it was to the male ego.

A little before seven that night, Harry bolted out of the castle to go to his first Quidditch training session, leaving Ron and Amelia to entertain themselves on their own. They sat down in the common room, Ron trying to teach Amelia how to play Wizard's Chess.

"…but the castles can only move one way, front or backwards." He said.

"Front and backwards would be two ways…"

"One _direction_, then, if you're so picky about it. Next to the castle are the knights, and they can only move in L shapes, three and two spaces."

"Three and two? What on earth does that mean?"

"Like _this_, three in one direction and two in the other."

"That doesn't make an L,"

"Ugh!" Ron groaned in frustration, his head falling into his hands. "Why do I even bother trying to teach you?"

"Beats me. I told you I can't play chess if my life depended on it."

Ron packed up his chess set, closing up the case as they heard a pair of furious feet coming down the stairs from the dormitories. Jacob stood there, panting, holding a small package in his hand.

"I am so sorry!" he breathed, walking over to Amelia. She smiled and jumped up, running over to hug him.

He laughed and knelt down to her height, holding out the package. "Happy Birthday."

She squealed and took it from him, ripping the paper off easily and smiling at the small container in her hands that read 'Beatty Crocker's Chocolate Frosting'. She laughed and threw her arms around him again.

"Thank you, thank you!" she said over and over again.

He sighed and sat down on the couch next to Ron. "I'm sorry it's late, but I've got my OWLs this year and studying has taken up most of my time."

She shrugged. "It's okay, you remembered, and that's what's important," she said. She glanced over at Ron and jumped up. "That's right! Ron, this is my cousin Jacob. Jacob, this is my friend Ron."

The two boys shook hands. "Don't tell me this is the only friend you've made so far?" Jacob joked. Amelia sat down between them.

"No, but Harry's at Quidditch practice right now."

"So you two did become friends?"

She nodded her head with a smile. "Yep!"

"And I guess Hermione could count as an acquaintance, but I think she's angry at me right now."

"She's unbearable! It's a good thing she doesn't talk to us!" Ron said.

Jacob looked at the two first years. "Did you get in a fight or something?"

Amelia shook her head. "Harry got on the school Quidditch team from breaking a direct order from a teacher and she hates him for it, even though Professor McGonagall doesn't seem to care. She approved it in the first place."

"Ah, McGonagall, she's a good teacher to have on your side. I'd hate to see what she's like when she's angry." Jacob said.

Amelia and Ron nodded in agreement. "I think it's nice that Harry got on the team, but you two have completely become obsessed about it," she said to Ron.

Ron shook his head and said to Jacob, "She just doesn't understand."

Jacob nodded in agreement. "Correct you are. Amelia, I have to take you to a game. You need to experience Quidditch to love it."

Ron nodded his agreement. "We'll make a fan out of you yet," he said laughing.

Harry walked into the common room at that time, his broom in his hand and a smile on his face, that thrill from his first taste of Quidditch still shining in his eyes. Jacob smiled and greeted Harry before saying that he had to finish his homework for the night before going to bed.

Harry took his place on the sofa.

Amelia yawned. "So, how was it?"

"It was _amazing_!" He opened his mouth to say more, but Amelia cut him off, walking upstairs to her room.

"That's nice, but I'm tired. Good night." She said, disappearing up the stairs.

Ron and Harry glanced over to where she was before engaging themselves in rapid conversation about their favorite wizard sport.

* * *

Whether it was because everything had suddenly become so busy or that she was finally starting to enjoy herself, Amelia was surprised when the two month mark of first stepping through the entrance hall passed by. Along with being bogged down by homework most of the time – even though she never found it all that difficult -, she had found that most of her lessons were starting to become quite interesting now that the first years had covered most of the basics. She felt bad for Harry, with Quidditch practice three times a week on top of the already large load of work he and Ron had been struggling with, and had begun to do some work while watching the Quidditch practices.

The first time she had done so had been during the middle of a session. They had been passing the quaffle, as she learned it was called, back and forth to each other and practicing scoring when Harry had flown around the stadium and smiled upon seeing her working on her Potions essay. She had waved to him before he flew into one of the goal posts.

As funny as it was, she had stood and ran over to make sure he was okay. Other than a bruise on his temple, he had no other injuries.

"What are you doing here? You hate Quidditch," he had asked her, rubbing his head.

She smiled and shrugged. "It seems important to you and Ron, so I figured watching you practice would show my support, get a little homework done, and enjoy the fresh air at the same time."

She found that Quidditch wasn't that bad of a game, just a violent one. The players had become used to seeing her around the stadium with her books or simply relaxing in the bleachers, watching them fly around. Oliver Wood, the captain, had once offered to let her fly around with them, but she had to politely decline. They had forced her on a broom anyway and she found herself waking up in the hospital a few hours later. Wood never let her near a broom after that day, and she couldn't have been more thankful.

She had also gained more respect in Professor Snape's eyes. After a week of performing her potions nearly perfectly in class, he had reluctantly paid her a complement. "If you are so experienced, why don't you help the other imbeciles you call friends?" he had said to her after giving her a near perfect score on one of the more advanced potions they had done that first term. She had smiled brightly up at him before giggling and running out of the dungeons. Ron couldn't figure out for the life of him why this made her happy, but she brushed it aside.

"Boys just don't understand," she had whispered to Hermione. After the event with the broomstick, the two girls had silently banded together after a coincidental meeting in the library. Amelia found that the other wasn't all that bad, but she didn't seem to consciously boast about the fact that she knew so much. Hermione had confided in her that she had studied so much before school started, not wanting to feel like she didn't know anything when confronted with other kids who had been around magic all their lives, that the habit had been ingrained in her. Amelia understood. It became a silent pact between them, a girls' secret, one that Harry and Ron wouldn't understand, just as the girls wouldn't understand what happened between the two boys.

Amelia found that she was able to move about different groups and clicks among the school quite easily. Of course, Harry and Ron had been her first friends, so she felt most comfortable with them, but even the Slytherins found something acceptable about her. She had, more than once, sat talking to Draco in the courtyard, and had found that he wasn't all that bad, just a little stuck up, but she couldn't blame that on him – it was just the way he had been raised. When he wasn't with Crabbe and Goyle, she actually didn't mind spending time with him. But with the two beefy bodyguards, he became his haughty self again. She felt slightly touched that he let his guard down a little with her, yet slightly creeped out, hoping that it wouldn't come back to haunt her one day.

She found that along with the other students, her teachers seemed to favor her a little as well. McGonagall didn't act any different towards her in class, but after or before, was always very cordial when Amelia asked questions. She also found helpful comments on her homework assignments that were absent from Harry and Ron's papers. Ron had particularly given her a hard time about becoming teacher's pet. Harry poked fun at her about it, but she found his comments a lot more teasing than hurtful. Professor Snape, or course, had come to expect perfection from her in class. She didn't mind the pressure, but thrived on it, wanting to impress the teacher of her favorite subject. She dared to add small touches to potions that she found worked better than the instructions given in the book. Snape seemed surprised that she thought of such small things, and had increased his expectations exponentially about her.

She was still waiting for an outright congratulatory sentence, but the more she spent down in the dungeons, the more she found that he just wasn't that kind of person. She was a little disappointed, but shrugged the feeling off easily. At least she was doing well in the class. Along with Malfoy, Amelia had become the object of Snape's bragging to the class of how they should copy her instead of turning in the disgraceful concoctions they made each lesson. A large blush had risen to her cheeks as many others starting asking her for help.

As Halloween morning dawned on them, Amelia woke to the smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the halls and smiled, rushing to get dressed and race down to the Great Hall for breakfast. In Charms that day, only making things better, Professor Flitwick had announced that they were ready to make objects fly, a feat that Amelia, personally, had been looking forward to for ages. They were put in pairs to practice the charm, Harry with Seamus, Amelia with Neville, and, ironically, Ron with Hermione. Harry and Amelia had caught each others eye and chuckled about it some before trying to make the feather in front of them float. Amelia figured Hermione was having a horrible time, seeing as she still didn't talk to the boys.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Flitwick squeaked to the class. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Amelia found the charm a little difficult to achieve. She had managed to make the feather twitch a little and one end to go up, but nothing more happened. Harry and Seamus didn't fare any better, for Seamus got impatient and poked the feather, setting it on fire. Ron wasn't having any better luck either.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" he shouted over and over again, waving his arms wildly.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped at him. "It's Wing-_gar_-dium Levio-_o_-sa, make the 'gar' nice a long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled back at her.

Hermione flicked her wand at the feather and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" and the feather rose off the desk, hovering about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" Professor Flitwick said loudly, clapping at her. "Everyone, see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

By the end of class, Ron was in a very sour mood.

They pushed through the crowded corridor on their way to the Halloween feast for dinner. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron said to Harry and Amelia. "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Hermione knocked into Harry as she ran past the group, her face covered in tears.

"I think she heard you," he said.

Amelia sighed and groaned, turning on the boys. "That was incredibly rude of you, Ron!"

"So? She must've noticed she's got no other friends besides you," Ron retorted.

She glared at him before running off to find Hermione.

She found her in the girls' bathroom, crying in one of the stalls. Amelia left her stuff by one of the sinks and walked up to the door, staring at the wood. She knocked timidly. "Hermione?"

"What?" came the whimpered response.

"Don't listen to him, Hermione. Ron's a prick, it's in his nature," she said, trying to get the crying girl to smile a little.

It didn't work. "Not to you," she cried.

Amelia sighed. "I've just known him longer."

"You met him on the train."

"Yeah," Amelia started. "but I've been friends with him longer. He was just angry. Don't listen to him."

She sobbed to herself for a moment before she said, "But it's true. I don't have any friends."

"And what am I, you're pet?" Amelia teased. "_I'm_ your friend, Hermione, so that makes his statement invalid, and that makes him a liar. You don't want to associate yourself with liars, Hermione."

It worked. Hermione let out a weak laugh. "Then why do you?"

"Because I'm already drowning in his sea of idiocy. You're just wading in the kiddy pool."

Hermione laughed again, this time a little stronger. "Thanks, but I just want to be alone right now." She said.

Amelia nodded, retrieving her stuff. "Just don't think about it too much, okay?"

"Yeah," was Hermione's weak response.

Amelia reluctantly left the bathroom and went to go to her next class, but the bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. She groaned and stomped her way to the common room, angry at Ron for making her miss for such a stupid reason as trying to fix his mistakes. Harry and Ron were both in the common room when Amelia walked in. She glared at the back of their heads and stomped loudly over to them, letting them know she was angry.

They turned and stared her. "Where were you?" Ron asked.

She hit him with her book. "Ow! What was that for?" he exclaimed, clutching his head.

"For saying such a thing! Do you know how depressed Hermione is?" Amelia exclaimed. A few others looked over at them. "I had to spend this entire time trying to fix your mistakes because you're too insensitive to keep your mean comments to yourself!" She hit him again for good measure.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, silently wishing that she wouldn't turn her wrath to him. Even though she was a normally nice girl, he admitted that she was scary when angry.

"Hermione is crying her eyes out in the bathroom."

Ron looked a little uncomfortable by this, but stood and walked towards to portrait hole. "We should go down to the feast now."

Harry followed him out to the Great Hall, glancing back at Amelia who was fuming to herself, glaring at the floor. He sighed and walked back over, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. She didn't say anything, but didn't object, so he took this as a good sign and directed her to sit down next to him and away from Ron as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

She tried to stay mad, but the decorations made it hard for her not to. She glanced around, staring in awe at the floating pumpkins that had replaced the candles and the bats fluttering around them, making the flames inside stutter momentarily. The feast appeared like it had at the start-of-term feast, appearing on the plates before them suddenly.

Amelia helped herself to a piece of pumpkin pie when Professor Quirrell came running down the hall towards Dumbledore with terror written plainly on his face. He reached the table and slumped against it, gasping, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

He sank to the floor in a faint.

The hall broke into an uproar, students screaming all over the place. It took many firecrackers exploding from the top of Dumbledore's wand to calm everyone down long enough to get a word in.

"Prefects," his voice rumbled around the hall. "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Percy was in his element as he shouted at the Gryffindors, "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

Even in the present situation, Amelia had to laugh at Percy, taking his job so seriously.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs back to Gryffindor tower.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," Ron said. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

Amelia shook her head. "Peeves wouldn't do that. He'd never be that smart to think of such a joke."

They passed different groups of panicking people, jostling their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs that had obviously lost sight of their Prefect. Amelia froze, grabbing Ron and Harry's arms to pull them from walking off.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed.

"What about her?" Ron said.

"She doesn't know about the troll."

Harry nodded, ready to go find Hermione, but Ron stayed, biting his lips nervously.

"Oh, all right," he snapped at them. "But Percy'd better not see us."

They ducked down and joined the Hufflepuffs going to other way and slipped away into a deserted corridor, hurrying off to the girls' bathroom. They turned a corner when they heard footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" Ron hissed, pulling Harry and Amelia behind a large stone griffin.

They peered around it and found Snape crossing the corridor instead of Percy before disappearing from view.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me," Ron said.

Quietly as they could, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up a hand.

"Can you smell something?"

The foul stench hit their noses, like old socks and the kind of public toilet that never gets cleaned. The sound of low grunting and the shuffles of gigantic feet came down the passageway to the left. Ron pointed in the direction of the sound, shrank into the shadows with the other two, and watched as it walked into a patch of moonlight.

The troll was twelve feet tall, with skin a dull gray with a great lumpy body and a small, bald head perched on top of its shoulders like a coconut. It had short legs and flat feet and was holding a large, wooden club that dragged behind it along the floor. It stopped next to a doorway and peered inside, waggling its long ears before slouching inside the room.

"The keys in the lock," Harry muttered, "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," Ron said nervously, his voice shaking. Amelia nodded along with the idea, edging towards the door with them, praying that the troll wouldn't go and walk out. In one move, Harry jumped and grabbed the key, slammed the door and locked it.

"_Yes!"_

The boys faces were flushed and started to run back up the passage. Amelia stayed by the door, her face white. Harry stopped and turned around, gesturing wildly for her to hurry. Amelia shook her head, unlocked the door, and walked in.

Ron stopped and stared at her. "What on earth is she _doing_?" she asked incredulously.

Just then, there was a high pitched, petrified scream coming from the room they had just tried to trap the troll in.

"Oh, no," Ron said, as pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the girls' bathroom! That's why she went back in!" Harry said.

"_Hermione! Amelia!_" they said together.

They whirled around and ran back towards the door and thrust it open in a panic. Hermione was shrinking against the wall with Amelia next to her, looking around wildly for something to defend themselves with, before catching Harry and Ron's eye. The troll advanced on them, knocking the sinks off the wall with its size.

"Confuse it!" Harry shouted desperately to Ron and threw a stone as hard as he could against the troll to get it to take its focus off of the girls. The troll stopped a few feet from them, looking around as to what made the noise. It eyes caught Harry and made for him instead, lifting his club as he advanced.

"Oy, pea-brain!" Ron yelled from the other side of the chamber and threw a metal pipe at the troll. It hit its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning towards Ron this time, giving Harry time to run around it.

"Come on, run, _run_!" Harry yelled to Hermione and Amelia, pulling them towards to door. Amelia ran after him, tugging Hermione along who was flat against the wall with her mouth wide open in terror.

All the echoes of the shouting in the room seemed to drive the troll insane. It roared and started towards Ron, who had no way to escape. In an effort to divert its attention, Harry took a running jump and fastened his arms around the trolls neck from behind. Amelia shouted at him for being so stupid, but felt relieved when it worked and the troll looked up from Ron. Harry stuck his wand up the troll's nose and it roared in pain, flailing its club around with Harry hanging on for dear life.

Hermione was sunk to the floor in a fright and Amelia was whimpering and debating whether to help Harry or simply stay where she was when Ron pulled out his wand and shouted, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

The club rose out of the troll's hand and turned over before dropping with a sickening crack onto its owner's head. The troll swayed in its spot before falling flat on its face with a trembling thud.

Harry got to his feet, shaking. Ron stood there still, his wand raised, staring at what he had done.

"Is it – dead?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so," Harry said, "I think it's just been knocked out."

Once Amelia saw that Hermione was okay, she ran across the chamber and wrapped her arms around Harry, knocking him off balance for a moment. "Are you all right?" she whispered, her voice shaking.

He nodded, letting her back to her feet. "I'm fine."

She nodded in relief and walked over and gave Ron the same treatment. His face turned red as he patted her awkwardly on the back. She pulled back and slapped him on the cheek lightly.

"What was that for? I just saved your life!" he said, staring at her. He closed his mouth as he saw tears in her eyes.

She sniffled. "Don't make me worry like that," she whimpered.

Not knowing what else to do, Ron nodded dumbly.

Harry reached down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what appeared to be gray, lumpy goo. "Urgh – troll boogers," he said, wiping it off on the troll's trousers.

The sudden sound of loud footsteps and doors slamming made the four of them look up. Professor McGonagall came running into the room along with Snape and Quirrel in the rear. Quirrel took one look at the troll, let out a small whimper, and had to sit down on a toilet to keep from falling over again.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry, looking angrier than the four first years had ever seen her. They were obviously not getting any points for Gryffindor for knocking out the troll.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" McGonagall said with cold fury. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry and quick, stabbing gaze. Harry looked down at the floor.

"Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me," came Hermione's quiet voice.

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had finally gotten to her feet with Amelia holding onto her arm. "I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."

Amelia stared at her in surprise and Ron dropped his wand in shock and Hermione lying outright to a teacher.

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried not to seemed surprised at her story.

"And Amelia," Hermione began again, "She came when she realized that I went looking for it and tried to get me out, but I wouldn't listen."

"Well – in that case…" Professor McGonagall said, staring at the four of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Amelia didn't know what to say. Hermione was the last person that would deliberately try and break a school rule, and here she was, pretending as if she had so that they wouldn't get in trouble.

"Miss Granger, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," Professor McGonagall said. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione left the others to face the teacher's wrath. McGonagall turned to Harry, Amelia, and Ron.

"Well, I still say you're lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

The three hurried out of the chamber and didn't say a word until they had gone two floors up from the troll.

"We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.

"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's." Harry said.

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted at last. "Mind you, we _did _save her."

"She might not have needed saving if the troll hadn't been locked in with her," Amelia said, staring purposely at Harry. He turned his head away to avoid her gaze.

The reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered into the Gryffindor common room.

It was packed and noisy and everyone was eating the food that had been sent up for them. Hermione stood by the door along, waiting for them. There was an embarrassed pause between her and the boys before they all said, "Thanks," without looking at each other, before heading off to get plates for themselves.

Amelia smiled. There were just some things that people couldn't experience without being friends, and she placed 'knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll' on that list.


	7. I: Quidditch

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 7 - Quidditch 

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

November came quickly and brought with it winter and the coldest temperatures that Amelia had lived through. The lake had frozen over like steel and the mountains had become icy gray. The ground was frost-covered every morning when she woke up, finding Hagrid defrosting broomsticks down on the Quidditch field since the season had started.

The first game of the year was on Saturday: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. No one but the Quidditch team and Amelia had seen Harry play because Wood wanted to keep Harry as their secret weapon, and didn't risk letting the opponents see him during practice to do just that, keep him a secret. Even still, the news that Harry had become Seeker spread around the school.

Amelia found that having Hermione now included in her, Harry, and Ron's group had its advantages. She was an excellent teacher and had helped Amelia increase her History of Magic scores phenomenally, simply by borrowing her notes from time to time – her notes were Professor Binn's lecture written on paper, nearly word for word – and Hermione even checked over her homework for her, helping her fix any mistakes. She did the same for the others, of course, but Amelia found that Hermione was thankful for trying to comfort her back during the bathroom incident, and often gave Amelia answers that she excluded the boys from. Either that, or it was the sacred bond between two females.

As Harry's first Quidditch match drew near, Amelia found him growing more and more nervous. She tried her best to keep him in high spirits about the match, but that only worked for so long before he starting letting doubts creep into his head. Amelia blamed it on all the things he had read in _Quidditch Through the Ages_ that Hermione had lent him. He seemed panicked that he was going to die in one way or another during the game, and Amelia had to smack him out of it.

"It's a school match! You're not going to die!" she shouted at him, trying to shake some sense into the boy. He nodded dumbly, still not convinced.

Hermione had become more lax about letting them get away with breaking school rules, as well, after the mountain troll. The day before the match, she conjured up a bright blue flame and put it into a jar for them as they stood outside in the freezing courtyard. They were standing with their backs to it to get warm, when Professor Snape crossed the yard. Amelia looked at his leg, surprised to find him limping. They all moved around the fire to block it from his view. Their guilty faces caught his eye and, even though he hadn't seen the fire, he looked like he was ready to yell at them anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

Harry showed him _Quidditch Through the Ages_.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," he said. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

Snape limped away and Harry muttered angrily, "He's just made that rule up. Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," Ron said bitterly.

Amelia hit his arm. "Don't be so mean."

"Why do you always hit me? Why not Harry?" he cried out in injustice.

Amelia shrugged. "Harry doesn't aggravate me." That was all the explanation that Ron figured he'd get out of her.

* * *

That evening, the common room was very noisy. Harry, Ron, Amelia, and Hermione sat by a window, Hermione checking over Ron's Charm's homework. She had refused to let him cheat off of her, but by checking it, he ended up with the right answers anyway.

Harry was restless again. He wanted _Quidditch Through the Ages _back to help take his mind off of his nerves.

"You're going to do great, Harry, don't worry," Amelia said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just don't run into that pole again."

He laughed nervously. "I hope not."

"I'm just kidding. Don't look like you're going to have a heart attack." She said, sitting across from him.

"Do you think Snape will let me have my book back?" he asked.

Amelia shrugged. "We can go ask him." She stood with Harry.

"Better you than me," Hermione and Ron said.

Amelia shook her head and took his hand, leading him out of the tower. She started to go down to the dungeons, but he stopped her, leading her to the staff room. "Maybe he won't refuse if there are other teachers around," he suggested.

They stopped in front of the staff room and knocked. When nobody answered, they knocked again. Still, no answer. Harry pushed the door open slightly and peered in, hoping that maybe he had left the book there – Snape and Filch were inside instead.

Snape was holding his robes above his knees, revealing one of his legs to be bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages for the wound.

"Blasted thing," Snape said. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry and Amelia tried to shut the door quietly and quickly, but Snape's furious voice shouted, "POTTER!"

Snape's face was twisted grotesquely with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to cover the injury. Harry gulped.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! _OUT_!"

Harry and Amelia took of sprinting before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor than he originally planned on. They stopped running once they were floors away from the staff room, and leaned against the wall to try and catch their breath.

"You know," Amelia panted, "I seem to be running a lot more than usually from authority ever since I met you."

Harry laughed a breathy laugh. "I can't say I planned it all."

They walked back to the common room. "Did you get it?" Ron asked as they joined him back by the window. "What's the matter?"

Harry and Amelia relayed the story in a low whisper to Ron and Hermione.

"You know what this means?" Harry said breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick _he_ let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermione's eyes were wide, but Amelia shook her head.

"He wouldn't do that, he's a teacher! I know you don't like him a whole lot, but it's not fair to accuse him of trying to steal whatever Dumbledore's guarding."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "He may not be very nice, but I don't think he'd deliberately try and go against Dumbledore."

"Honestly, Amelia, you're letting your crush on him get in the way of the facts. All teachers aren't saints, most certainly not Snape!"

"_Crush?_ You think I have a crush on Snape?" Amelia said, her voice rising with every word.

"I'm with Harry on this. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

"I do _not _have a crush on him!" Amelia shouted again, hitting Ron on the head. She sighed angrily and marched up to her room to go to bed.

That night, they all couldn't come up with an answer to the question that was on all their minds – what was hidden beneath that trapped door?

* * *

The next day was as bright and cold as the one before, the wind still blowing harshly around outside in the chilly winter air. The smell of fried sausages and breakfast came from the Great Hall, along with the cheers and chatter from everyone, eager for the Quidditch match later that day.

"You've got to eat some something," Amelia said, trying to push a plate of food towards Harry.

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," Hermione tried to persuade him.

"I'm not hungry."

Amelia could tell that Harry wasn't feeling too good, looking like he was going to throw up more than anything. She was torn, half wanting to stuff food down his throat so that he wouldn't faint during the match – surprisingly, with all the excitement going around the school, she was actually looking forward to it and listened when Ron went on and on about his favorite team instead of ignoring him – and half wanting him to stay in bed today, seeing as how he looked so sick.

"Harry, you need your strength," Seamus said. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Thanks, Seamus," Harry said.

Seamus went back to his ketchup and sausages when he met Amelia's glare.

By eleven o'clock, it seemed as if the entire school was out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch, many with binoculars to see the players better. Ron, Hermione, and Amelia joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean up in the top row of the Gryffindor section. Hermione brought with her a banner that she and a few others had made from one of the old sheets that said Potter for President on it, the colors blinking from a charm that Hermione had cast.

The teams walked out onto the field and the crowd roared in a loud cheer. Amelia shouted and clapped as she spotted the Gryffindors in their red and gold walking to meet the Slytherins. Madam Hooch stood in the center of the field as the referee, her broom in her hand. She said a few quick words to the teams before they all mounted their brooms.

She blew her whistle and they were off, flying high into the air.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too -,"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

Lee Jordan was doing the commentary for the match, watched like a hawk by Professor McGonagall. It was obvious that he tended to let his feelings get the best of him during his commentary.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc-no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back on the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by the Slytherins – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear filed ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

The cheers from the Gryffindors filled the air around the pitch along with the howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Ron and Hermione squeezed closer towards Amelia to give Hagrid enough room to join them in the stands.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," he said, gesturing to the large binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Not yet," Amelia said. "Harry's probably getting pretty bored out there."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," Hagrid said, raising his binoculars to watch Harry. Above them, he was circling around the pitch, squinting around for a sign of the Snitch or a small flap of gold fluttering around. After Angelina scored, Amelia giggled, watching Harry do a few loops for something to do.

A Bludger came his way once, shooting towards him like a cannonball, but Harry was able to dodge it and Fred went chasing after it.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speed towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"

There was a loud murmur that went through the crowd. Amelia looked around, jumping to see over some of the heads in front of her to try and catch a glimpse of the elusive golden ball. She knew Harry had seen it when he dived downward along with the Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs. They hurtled towards the snitch neck and neck – the teams seemed to have forgotten about their positions as all eyes watched the two Seekers.

Amelia couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her lips as she saw Harry gain speed on Higgs, putting on extra speed, stretching his arm towards it –

WHAM! Cries of rage came from the Gryffindors. Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, causing the Seeker to spin off course.

"Foul!" many of the Gryffindors screamed.

Madam Hooch spoke to Flint angrily and let the Gryffindors have a free shot at the goal posts, but the Snitch had gone in the confusion.

Next to her, Dean was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"What are you talking about Dean?" Ron asked.

"Red card! In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!" he yelled furiously.

"Sorry, but this isn't football, Dean," Amelia reminded him.

Hagrid was on Dean's side. "They oughta change the rules. Flint could have knocked Harry outta the air."

Up in the stands with McGonagall, Lee Jordan was having trouble not taking sides.

"So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating -,"

"Jordan!" McGonagall growled towards him.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul -,"

"_Jordan, I'm warning you_ -,"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

Amelia watched as Harry dodged an oncoming Bludger before giving a sudden lurch forward on his broom. She watched him as he looked around in confusion – the move had obviously not been of his own accord.

Lee was still commenting on as no one noticed.

"Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherins score – oh, no…"

The Slytherins were cheering wildly as Harry's broom kept dragging him higher and higher into the air, away from the game.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid said, watching through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom…but he can't have…"

Suddenly, people across the stands from all houses were pointing up at Harry as he roll over and over on his broom. His broom gave a sudden jerk, sending Harry swinging off of it, holding on by one hand, and the crowd gasped.

"Do you think Flint did something when he blocked him?" Amelia asked.

"Can't have," Hagrid said. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At this, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars from his hands and directed them, not towards the game, but towards the crowd. Looking around frantically.

"What are you doing?" Ron moaned.

"I knew it," she said. "Snape – look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars and looked through them before Amelia took them from him, glancing towards the teachers urgently. There was Snape, his eyes fixed on Harry, unblinking, and muttering something under his breath nonstop.

"He's doing something – jinxing the broom," Hermione said.

"He can't be," Amelia said, though no one seemed to hear her.

"What do we do?" Ron asked.

"Leave it to me."

Hermione disappeared before anyone could argue against her. Amelia turned the binoculars back to Harry, whose broom was vibrating so hard that he was barely able to keep his hold on it. The Weasley twins flew up to try and get him down, but every time they flew close to him, the broom went higher and higher still. They settled for staying below him, ready to catch Harry should he fall.

In the midst of all the panic, Marcus Flint took the Quaffle and scored five goals without anyone noticing.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron said desperately.

Amelia knew whatever Hermione did had worked, for Harry was able to get back on his broom suddenly, and fly away to rejoin the game.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville looked up, taking his wet face away from Hagrid's jacket where he had been crying.

Harry was speeding towards the ground when he clasped his hand over his mouth as if he was about to be sick. He hit the field on all fours and coughed hard – something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it to the crowd.

"He didn't _catch _it, he nearly _swallowed _it," Flint was howling even after the game was over. It didn't matter what he said anyway, for Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan refused to shout out anything other than Gryffindor's complete and utter victory, one hundred and seventy points to Slytherins sixty.

Amelia, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid ran down from the stands and took Harry away from the game immediately and back to Hagrid's hut, the gamekeeper making Harry a steaming cup of tea.

"That was amazing Harry!" Amelia was saying, going on and on about how suspenseful the game had been and how worried she was and that he really needed to be more careful, but how it was exciting that they had won the game anyway. Harry smiled at her meekly, sipping from his cup.

"It was Snape," Ron explained to Harry, referring to the broom incident. "We saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," Hagrid said. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

"Exactly. Snape wouldn't do that to a student, no matter how mean he seems." Amelia said, nodding in agreement.

Still, the four first years exchanged concerned glances.

Harry decided to tell Hagrid the truth. "I found out something about him," he began, "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it was guarding." Amelia snorted disapprovingly at this, but said nothing on the subject.

Hagrid, on the other hand, dropped in teapot in shock.

"How do you know about Fluffy?"

"_Fluffy?_"

"Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -,"

"Yes?" Harry said eagerly, encouraging him to finish the sentence.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," he said sternly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to _steal_ it."

"Rubbish," Hagrid said again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing of the sort."

Amelia opened her mouth to agree but Hermione cut her off.

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" she said.

"What if he wasn't?" Amelia said. "What if he was saying…a coutercurse…or something…" she trailed off, hearing just out stupid her idea sounded, even to her own ears. Hermione didn't seem like she was going to agree with her anymore, either.

"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"You've read all about trolls, too, and what happened?" Amelia said, sliding down in her chair.

"I'm tellin' yer, yer wrong!" Hagrid said hotly, sure of his faith in Snape. " I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, the fours of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin' that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel -,"

"Aha!" Harry said, "so there's someone called Nicholas Flamel involved, isn't there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself by the time they had left.


	8. I: The Mirror of Erised

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 8 – The Mirror of Erised

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

It was December and Christmas was fast on its way. Amelia woke up to find Hogwarts covered in several feet of snow. The lake was frozen solid outside, and the Weasley twins were already being punished for bewitching snowballs to follow Professor Quirrel around and throwing themselves to bounce off of the back of his high turban. Even the owls had a hard time in the frosty weather. Many weren't able to return back home until being nursed back to health with the help of Hagrid.

Regardless, the holidays were anticipated eagerly by all the students. Nevertheless, the holidays had yet to arrive, and classes had to continue until they would. The halls and the Gryffindor common room were warm and toasty with roaring fires, but the corridors of the dungeons and many of the classes were icy and bitter, freezing the students to the core every time they had to go down said corridor. Worst of all was Snape's class, where even their breaths were visible in a mist that would rise in front of them. They had to keep close to their cauldrons to keep from getting frostbite.

All except Amelia – she relished walking around in the frosty atmosphere, refusing to wear anything else than her normal robes to classes. Ron had told her on more than one occasion that she was crazy. Harry couldn't help but laugh when he found her skipping down to Potions, more excited than ever.

"I'm telling you, she's mental! Even more than Hermione," Ron said to Harry as they waited in front of Potions one day. Amelia was hoping up and down to try and peak through the small window into the room that was too high for her. "First, she _enjoys_ Snape, and now she loves the winter weather?"

"She's just different," Harry said, sighing as Snape arrived and let them in.

"I do feel so sorry," Malfoy said that Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He deliberately looked over at Harry as he said this. Amelia shook her head, thinking to herself that that boy had to get over himself soon, or he might just find himself in a psychiatrist's office one day. She had noticed that he had become meaner towards Harry ever since Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin in the Quidditch match. First, he had tried to get people to laugh at Harry by saying a frog could replace him as Seeker, but he soon found that nobody thought he was funny and was more impressed at Harry's skills during the game. As his last resort, he had gone back to teasing Harry about his family. While she thought that this was an inexcusable way to behave towards someone, she had gotten over his and Harry's malevolence towards each other days ago, coming to accept that this as just the way that boys acted when they hated each other.

But Malfoy's words had some truth to them. Harry wasn't going back home for the holidays. When Professor McGonagall had come around to all the Gryffindors with a list of who was to be staying, Harry's name was one of the first put down. Ron had signed up as well, since his parents were going to visit his brother Charlie in Romania. Amelia had to put her name down after receiving a letter from her parents that they were going to visit her grandparents out in the countryside. They knew that Amelia hated visiting them, even though she didn't hate her family itself, just the area, and hadn't required her to accompany them this time, allowing her to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas.

When they left the dungeons after Potions had ended that day, they were blocked from going down the corridor by a large fir tree. They knew it was Hagrid from the enormous feet sticking out of the bottom and the loud puffing sound that came from behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked him, having to stick his head through the branches to see the large gamekeeper.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron,"

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy's cold voice said from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron let his emotions get the best of him as he dived at Malfoy, unluckily timed, for Snape was just coming up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

As soon as Snape's voice echoed down the hall, Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was only defending himself, Professor. Malfoy was insulting him and his family," Amelia said, standing in front of Ron as Snape walked up to them.

"Be that as it may, Miss Warrington, fighting is against Hogwarts rules," he said. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be thankful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Malfoy and his friends pushed past the tree and Hagrid roughly, smirking as the needles scattered everywhere.

"I'll get him," Rom muttered through his clenched teeth, glaring at Malfoy's back. "One of these days, I'll get him-,"

"I hate them both, Malfoy and Snape," Harry pitched in. Amelia shook her head at them all.

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," Hagrid said. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

The four of them followed Hagrid down to the Great Hall. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were both busy hanging Christmas decorations up when they got there.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked beautiful to Amelia was she looked around. Holly and mistletoe were hung everywhere in large bunches, some hanging above one of the giant twelve Christmas trees that stood around the room, sparkling with ice crystals or glittering with thousands of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," Hermione said. "And that reminds me – Harry, Ron, Amelia, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," Ron said, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who was trailing golden bubbles out of the end of his wand.

"The library?" Hagrid said in surprise. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry said brightly.

"We're looking up information on Flamel," Amelia finished for him.

"You _what_?" Hagrid said, shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all," Hermione said.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added hopefully. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can' find him anywhere – just give us a hint – I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," Hagrid said.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," Ron said. They left Hagrid unhappy at the conversation, hurrying off to the library.

Ever since Hagrid had let Flamel's name slip, the four of them had been searching the library for any trace of his name. It was the only lead they had on why someone was trying to steal whatever was beneath the trapdoor (Amelia was insistent that Snape wasn't the one stealing it, though she admitted that him being involved with very incident was suspicious, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione figured it was a start to her seeing the truth) since Hagrid had refused to tell them any more about the subject. The problem they found was that they had no idea what Flamel had done that could have got him put into a book, so they had no idea where to start looking. He wasn't in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, Important Modern Magical Discoveries,_ or _A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_. Of course, he could have been in another, but the library had thousands of books, hundreds of rows and shelves that they would have to look though.

Amelia and Ron wandered off to find more books that had a possible good outcome that would result from looking through them. Ron had no patience looking through each book by title, so he had long ago figured that pulling books off of the shelves at random was his best bet. Amelia took her time looking through the library's collection, getting distracted every now and then and sitting down to read through an interesting book that she had found. I would usually take at least two of the others to pull her away. She glanced at a shelf full of different books, and grimaced, forcing herself to walk away and focus on the task at hand.

Amelia, Ron, and Hermione walked out of the library about five minutes later and met Harry in the corridor, after he had been kicked out of the library by Madam Pince, the librarian. They went off to lunch shortly after discouraged that after all the time spent in the library, they had found nothing.

"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" Hermione said. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you can ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," Ron said. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," Hermione said.

* * *

Once the holidays arrived, Flamel was driven from Ron, Harry, and Amelia's minds. They were having too good of a time to even bother with going to the library or doing anything associated with school work. The common room was practically empty. Amelia had disappeared up into her dormitory a lot as of late, which she had to herself, so Harry and Ron had rarely seen her around much. Whenever they asked her what she was doing, she would always smile, put a finger to her lips, and say, "It's a secret," before walking away.

Along with all the advantages of staying in the nearly deserted Gryffindor tower, Ron had also started to teach Harry how to play wizard's chess (he didn't bother asking Amelia if she had wanted to join. He'd given up trying to teach her a long time ago), which Harry found to be just like Muggle chess but with moving figures. Amelia sat next to them, watching them play, feigning interest, for the game still confused her to no end. Ron played with a very old set, which gave him the advantage of having players that were familiar with him and would follow him wherever he directed them.

Harry had to play with the set that Seamus had let him borrow, but they didn't trust him at all. Amelia would laugh when they would shout at Harry, giving him directions different then what he wanted to do initially, which would confuse him.

One Christmas Eve, they all went to bed, eager for the next morning. Amelia snuggled into under her covers, clinging to her stuffed animal with a smile on her face, excited to wake up the next morning to find presents at the end of her bed or under the tree in the common room with her name on them. She closed her eyes that night, falling into sweet dreams quickly.

The next morning, she sprang up in her bed with a wide smile and bright eyes. She jumped out of bed and kneeled in front of the many packages that sat for her. She opened her mouth to tell Hermione to wake up, but her face fell instantly when she realized that she was alone in the dormitory. She frowned down at her hands, but reached for them and opened them, one by one.

The first one was from her parents. It was a crystal necklace in the shape of a heart, something that she would have normally found very cheesy and unappealing, but for some reason, it looked unusually beautiful in her eyes. She smiled, hooking it around her neck. She fingered it carefully, watching as the small amount of morning light coming through the window made the crystal look like it was filled with rainbows.

The second was from Jacob. It was another jar of frosting, chocolate flavored. She giggled, opening it immediately and tasting it with her finger. It tasted like bliss to her. She snapped the top back on and set it aside.

The third was from Hermione. It was a box of chocolate frogs that she had purchased at one point along with a note taped to the side of one. It read:

_Amelia,_

_Make sure that you keep Ron and Harry out of trouble – who knows what they'll get into without teachers watching them. And don't stop looking for information about Nicholas Flamel. _

_Merry Christmas!_

_Hermione_

Amelia shook her head at Hermione's matter-of-fact tone, even in her writing. She was all business, even during a holiday.

The fourth present was, surprisingly, from Draco. She watched it for a while, wondering if she should open it. She was hoping that he wouldn't get her anything, because she didn't plan of getting him anything, and if his name was on one of her presents, she'd feel guilty about not giving him something for Christmas.

But he'd gotten her something anyway.

And now she felt guilty about the lack of presents that she had handed out.

She sighed, figuring that she could send him something simple in return. It wouldn't kill her to be nice. And, if she was being nice, the least she could do was open the present he had given her. She took the bow off of it and took the top off of the box, pulling out the silver bracelet that lay inside. It was a charm bracelet that already had different charms attached to it: a snake (she could have predicted that one), a heart (this one made her feel a little awkward towards the present…but it _did_ match her new necklace), the Hogwarts crest (she briefly wondered where he had found such a thing. They didn't sell them anywhere, did they?), and a wand (she discovered that the end of it lit up when she pressed the back of it, creating her very own mini-flashlight.

She slipped it over her hand and shook it around on her wrist, smiling at it as it jingled back and forth. She was getting a lot of jewelry this Christmas.

The fifth present was from Hagrid. It was poorly wrapped, but she didn't mind in the least. She opened it and stared at the wood figure of a vampire. She laughed, remembering an earlier conversation that she had had with the gamekeeper, in which she had shared with him her favoritism of vampires. He was pleasantly surprised that she shared an interest in the misunderstood like he did.

Amelia stood, setting the figure down on the nightstand next to her bed. She pulled on her robe, tied it around her waist, then slipped on her slippers and padded down the stairs to the boys dormitory. When she opened the door, she found them having the time of their lives – Harry's head was floating in midair, staring at her in confusion as she blinked over at him.

"Look what he's got!" Ron said in astonishment, pulling her inside and shutting the door behind her.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?" she asked in astonishment. She picked up a piece of paper that had fallen to the ground and handed it to Harry. "Can I try it on?" she asked.

He nodded and took the paper from her, reading over it. Amelia giggled in a silly manner as she looked at her floating head in the mirror. "This is amazing! Who gave it to you?" she asked Harry.

He shook his head. "There's no name."

"I'd give _anything _for one of these," Ron said, admiring the cloak as Amelia spun around in it. "_Anything_. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Harry said. "Amelia, who gave you the necklace?" he asked, changing the conversation.

"My parents did. It's pretty, isn't it?" she said, toying with it again.

"And the bracelet to match?" Ron said. "Girls and their jewelry."

"Draco gave this to me," she said, staring down at the bracelet.

"_What_?" Both boys exclaimed. Ron snatched her hand and looked at the gift more closely.

"It's expensive," he said, gaping at it. Harry walked over and examined it as well. "Why would he get you something like this?"

Amelia shrugged. "How should I know? I just found it at the end of my bed." She frowned. "But now I feel guilty about not getting him anything."

"Don't be. He doesn't deserve presents," Ron said, letting go of her hand.

Amelia shrugged, then her eyes snapped open. "Stupid!" she shouted to herself, running out of the room and back to her dormitory. Harry and Ron exchanged confused glances before she rushed back in the room with two packages in her hands.

She held them out to the boys, smiling brightly. "Merry Christmas!" she said.

Ron took his and sat down on his bed, immediately tearing the wrapping off and grabbing the sweater out of the box. He held it up and slipped it over his head, looking down at it.

"You and my mother would get along wonderfully, you know that?" Ron said. Harry laughed, taking his sweater out of the box and slipping it on.

"It's very comfortable," Ron said, shifting around in it. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Amelia replied. She thought that her color choice for Ron's sweater fit him perfectly. At first, she had wanted to get him a red one, thinking it would match his hair, but she thought that it would be too much red for one person, and had decided on the black one. Now that he was wearing it, she applauded herself for going with her gut feeling.

Harry, on the other had, was easy to choose for – blue would match his eyes and compliment his hair nicely. She smiled as they thanked her again, both coming to love the sweaters more and more as they wore them for a few minutes.

"Where did you get these?" Harry asked.

"I made them."

"You _made_ them?" Ron said. "You're exactly like my mother. At least its not red."

Amelia laughed, thinking that he had come very close to getting a red sweater from her that Christmas.

There wasn't even a knock on the door before Fred and George walked in. Harry quickly stuffed his new cloak away so that they wouldn't see it.

"Merry Christmas!" The twins said.

"What are you doing in here, Amelia?" The chorused.

She folded her arms across her chest and sat on one of the beds. "Am I not allowed to hand out my presents?"

They sat on either side of her and said, "Then where's our present?"

She thought for a moment, confused as to why they were so forward with her since she didn't know them that well, but she smirked and planted a kiss on each of their cheeks.

"Best present ever," Fred said.

"Couldn't ask for anything better," George agreed.

"Hey, look – Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!"

Fred and George were each wearing a blue sweater – one had a large yellow F on it, and the other had a G.

"Harry's is better than ours though," Fred said, holding Harry's sweater up. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded of his younger brother. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned. "And Amelia's is better."

"Is there love in every stitch?" George teased. "You haven't got a letter on yours. I suppose she thinks you won't forget your name. But we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?" Percy stuck his head in through the door, carrying a sweater over his arm that looked very similar to the other Weasley's. Fred seized it instantly.

"P for Prefect! Get it on, Percy, come one, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one," Fred said.

"I – don't – want," Percy started, but the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew on his face.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," George said. "Christmas is a time for family."

They dragged Percy from the room, pinning his arms to his sides with the sweater.

That night at dinner the hall was filled with festivities and food of all sorts – hundreds of roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, boats of gravy and cranberry sauce, sweet foods as far as the eye could see. Amelia laughed as he watched the boys toss around the party favors, the wizard crackers they had exploding with a bang. Even the teachers were enjoying themselves at their table; Dumbledore had exchanged his pointed hat for a flowered bonnet, laughing merrily at a joke that had been exchanged between him and Professor Flitwick. Hagrid's face grew redder and redder as he consumed glass after glass of wine. He kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who giggled and blushed, her hat lopsided.

The next day, they had a snowball fight on the grounds, drenching each other in cold ice. They returned to the common room and warmed up by the fire. Harry used the glass chess set that he had gotten for Christmas for the first time, where he lost spectacularly to Ron. After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, and Christmas cake, they were too full and sleepy to do anything else except sit on the couch, laughing and watching Percy chase Fred and George around the tower after stealing his prefect badge.

That night, Harry and Ron said goodnight to Amelia as they parted ways to their dormitories for bed. Amelia yawned, snuggling closer into her pillow, thinking to herself that she had never had a better Christmas in her life. She loved every minute that she had spent with her friends, even if Hermione was missing from the group. Besides, something was telling her that if she was here, they wouldn't be able to do as many things as they had. She'd be pushing them to start studying early while they had time before break was over.

The next morning, she found that maybe Hermione pushing the rules onto the boys was sometimes a good thing. Harry told her and Ron about his midnight adventures that he had gone on while they were sleeping, finding the perfect use for his new invisibility cloak.

"You could have woken me up," Ron said to Harry.

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror." Harry replied.

"What do you mean, you're going back?" Amelia whispered furiously to them. "What if you get caught?"

"He won't get caught – that's the point of bringing the cloak," Ron said.

"He may not be seen, but if he makes one sound out of place, a teacher or Filch could hear him and they'd know someone was out of bed."

Harry sighed. "Do you want to come?" he asked.

Amelia debated it for a while. The Mirror that Harry had spoken of had made her curious as to what her ancestors looked liked, or what the mirror would show her. She sighed, shaking her head. "It's just not right."

"You had no problem coming to the duel," Ron teased her.

"And we nearly got caught!"

"Don't worry about it. Nearly every teacher loves you, so we're bound to keep from getting expelled," Ron said.

Amelia sighed. "You guys are going no matter what I say, so I don't see why my opinion matters," she said, sulking.

Harry and Ron couldn't argue against that, no matter how guilty it made them feel. After all, she _was_ only trying to keep them from getting in trouble, and she was a lot easier to live with than Hermione. Not to mention it had been the three of them since they met on the train to Hogwarts.

That night, Ron and Harry snuck under the invisibility cloak and carefully found their way down the stairs into the common room. They were halfway gone through the portrait hole, when Harry stopped Ron and started walking backwards. Ron was about to ask what he was doing, when he caught sight of Amelia's brown hair on the couch in front of the fire.

Harry sighed, his guilty conscious getting the best of him, and shook her shoulder gently to wake her up. She stirred, blinking as she sat up, she looked around and, when she didn't see anyone, lay back down and closed her eyes.

Ron shook his head and shook Amelia again, stepping out from under the cloak. "Wake up, already!" he said, frustrated.

Amelia sat up instantly and stared at him with sleep-covered eyes. "What are you-,"

"Are you coming or not?" Ron demanded.

Amelia sighed and stood, nodding her head. "Where's Harry?"

Harry let the cloak slip down from his head and gestured for them to start searching for the mirror. "Come on already," he told the two.

They all crowded around each other under the cloak and padded out of the tower and down the hall, letting Harry lead the way.

"Why did you wake me up?" Amelia complained, yawning. "You should have gone on without me."

"You're part of the group, therefore, you have to tag along wherever we go," Ron stated. "And you probably _could _get us out of any trouble if we get caught."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad that you two think so highly of me," she said sarcastically.

They walked along the dark passages for nearly an hour, watching as Harry tried to retrace his steps to the room where the mirror was.

"I'm freezing," Ron complained. "Let's forget it and go back."

"_No_," Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

Ron continue to whine about being cold, not afraid of voicing it since the only person they had seen was one of the ghosts, until Harry spotted the room that he was after.

"It's here – just here – yes!"

They pushed the door open. Harry instantly dropped the cloak and ran to the mirror. Ron and Amelia walked up behind it, staring at their reflections.

"See?" Harry whispered in excitement.

"I can't see anything," Ron said.

"Look! Look at them all…there are loads of them…"

"There's only you, Harry," Amelia said.

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am," he said, stepping aside to let Amelia look through it. She tilted her head to the side and shifted around a bit, looking at the image in the mirror.

"It's just me," she said finally.

"Let me look," Ron said, stepping in front of the mirror as Amelia stepped away. Immediately, Ron stood staring at his reflection, mesmerized by it.

"Look at me!" he exclaimed.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?" Harry asked.

"No – I'm alone – but I'm different – I look older – and I'm head boy!" Ron exclaimed gleefully.

"_What?_" Harry said, confused.

"I am – I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to – and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup – I'm Quidditch captain, too!"

Ron had to tear his eyes away from the mirror to ask Harry, "Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? All my family are dead – let me have another look -,"

"You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."

"You're only holding the Quidditch cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents."

"You guys…" Amelia said worriedly.

"Don't push me -,"

There was a sudden, loud noise outside in the corridor. It was then that Harry and Ron realized how loud they had been talking.

"Quick!" Harry said, throwing the cloak over the three of them just as the bright eyes of Mrs. Norris came around the corner. The three of them froze, staring at the cat though the fabric. After a while, she turned and left.

"We need to leave, she might have gone for Filch," Amelia said, pulling Ron and Harry out of the room and back to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

The next morning, the grounds outside of the castle were still covered in snow. Harry, Ron, and Amelia all sat around the fire in the common room.

"Want to play chess?" Ron asked the others.

"No," Harry said.

Amelia scoffed. "No, thank you."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?" Ron suggested.

"No…you two go…"

Amelia shifted, staring Harry in the eyes. "You need to forget about that mirror, Harry. It's obviously hidden for a reason. You shouldn't go back there," she said.

"Why not?"

"I don't know about you, but I've got a bad feeling about it," Ron said, joining in on the conversation.

"And Filch, Professor Snape, and Mrs. Norris are walking around, and you've already had a few close calls."

"You sound like Hermione," Harry said.

"Maybe, but someone needs to be the voice of reason around you two," she teased.

"Seriously, Harry, don't go," Ron said.

Harry didn't say anymore, but Amelia recognized the determined look in his eyes and knew that no amount of convincing or worrying was going to stop him from leaving. She sighed, giving up on compelling him to stay. Maybe if he got caught, he'd learn his lesson about sneaking around the castle at night.


	9. I: Nicholas Flamel

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 9 – Nicholas Flamel

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

The next morning, when Harry came down for breakfast, Amelia couldn't have been anymore right in the fact that Harry had been seen. He acted strange all during their meal, never once talking about the mirror until they were safe in the common room again. Here, he recounted everything that had taken place.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you made," Ron told Harry, after he had told Ron and Amelia about the strange dreams he had been having after Dumbledore had told him not to find the mirror again.

Amelia wanted, more than anything, to tell Harry that she had been right, and that looking at the mirror night after night was unhealthy for him, but she didn't want to make him feel any worse than he already did at the moment.

Hermione came back the day before the term started, and when she was filled in on all that had happened, her view was greatly different than the other three had thought it would be. She was half-horrified that Harry had been out of bed, roaming around the castle for at least three nights in a row, and half-disappointed that they had found nothing else on Flamel while she had been away. They had nearly given up any hope of finding Nicholas in any of the school library books, but Harry insisted that he had read the name somewhere, and, therefore, the information had to be somewhere in the school. Amelia could disagree, but was aggravated that she had spent more time in the library than anything else during her first year. She was sure that, by now, she could direct anyone to the section of the library that they needed without thinking about it. Once term started, though, they had even less time to search, and Harry was almost never with them once Quidditch practice had started again.

While Amelia was on her way to Harry's Quidditch practice (she had become a normal sight to the team, sitting in the stands as they practiced), she was stopped by someone whispered her name rather loudly from behind a tree in the courtyard.

"Amelia," it said. She looked around to see if anyone was there, and continued on when she didn't see anything.

"Amelia," it said again, this time louder. She sighed, walking over to where she heard the sound behind one of the large trees off to the side. She was shocked to see Draco Malfoy standing there, looking around wildly to see if anyone was watching them. When he was satisfied, he sat down against the tree and pulled her to sit next to him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him, worried. He didn't seem like himself, with his face flushed and his eyes looking around at everything but her. "You don't look to good." She raised a hand and felt his forehead. His skin was warm. "Do you have a fever? Do you want me to take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

Draco pushed her hand down and shook his head. "No, I-I'm fine, really," he said. He sighed and looked down, his eyes catching her wrist. He smirked.

"You're wearing it,"

Amelia nodded happily with a smile. "It's beautiful! Thank you," she said.

Draco nodded, smirking. "It took a while to convince my dad to let me get it, you better like it,"

She laughed. "Well, tell your dad that I said thank you, then."

Draco went silent, keeping his eyes on the ground, before asking, "So, how was your Christmas?"

Amelia giggled, thinking of all the wild things she had done with Harry and Ron: snowball fighting, wandering around the castle – against the rules – at night, eating in the common room, sleeping in until noon (just because she could). "It was very eventful. How was yours?"

Draco shrugged. "All right, I guess," he swallowed loudly before turning to look at her. "Look, I need to tell you something important,"

She looked at him with concern in her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head and said, "No, not really – well, a little, but it's complicated."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

At that moment, Draco felt that her question couldn't have been more perfect, or more ironic, to what he was about to tell her. "You can, actually,"

"What do I need to do?"

He swallowed again as another blush went over his face and settled in his cheeks. "Amelia," She knew whatever he was going to tell her was important when he used her first name, for Malfoy had always addressed her by her last name. The formality concerned her, and something was telling her that the conversation was about to get very uncomfortable. "I want to tell you that I like you."

Amelia froze and stared at him. He held her gaze strongly, not backing down at his statement. She felt as if she had just been punched in the stomach. She didn't know how to answer. Did she like him? Of course, she considered him a friend, and liked him more than other people did, but did she like him the way he liked her? The way he wanted her to like him?

No. She didn't.

But how could she tell him that?

She looked at the ground, her hands suddenly becoming very interesting. "Draco, look, I-,"

"You don't?"

She winced at the heartbreak in his voice and nearly cried in frustration. How could she tell him that she didn't like him without making him feel bad about it? Was such a thing even possible?

She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, "Draco, I can't answer that yet. I need time to think about it," she said, hoping that something other than a no would help him accept her answer. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Draco nodded, still looking somewhat down, but more optimistic than he was earlier. Amelia smiled and stood, continuing on to the Quidditch practice, running once she was out of his line of sight. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from him as she could. When she made it to the Quidditch pitch, the team was already in the air, passing the Quaffle back and forth for practice. If the team noticed that she had just gotten there, they didn't say anything, and she liked it that way. She took out her Transfiguration homework and opened her book, working on the assignment, but her mind was scattered and she couldn't concentrate on anything but Draco's question, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she was.

Did she like him like _that_?

Her first answer had been an automatic no, but she went through all the things that he had said and done for her. He had never pushed her around (as much), he never called her insulting names (as much), and he got her the beautiful bracelet that she wore around her wrist. Was wearing it an automatic answer that she did?

If she didn't like him, could she try to?

Did she _want_ to try to?

The thought of being anything more than friends with Draco made her feel uncomfortable, like he was watching her think it over. She needed to talk about this with Hermione, but she knew that if she so much as mentioned it to Ron or Harry, they'd go berserk and attack Draco for even considering asking Amelia to be with him. She may not like him, but she didn't want him to get hurt, and she knew that, even if Harry didn't physically attack Malfoy, Ron wouldn't think twice about it, and that was what worried her the most.

She sighed, realizing that she should tell him that she didn't feel the same way, but she was still at a loss as to how she should do it. Should she wait for Draco to ask her again? Or should she go back to him tomorrow or in a few days and tell him herself? Maybe she could get Hermione to go tell him for her…

Amelia's head went up when she saw Harry walking up the stands towards her, the expression on his face one of pure terror. Instantly, she forgot about her small problem with Draco. "Are you all right?" she asked him, standing up and walking down with him, heading back to the common room.

He told her everything that had been said during practice, how Snape would be refereeing the next match against Hufflepuff. "I don't want him anywhere near me while I'm playing Quidditch."

"Maybe it won't be too bad. After all, he's never refereed before, right?" Harry nodded. "Then he may miss a few things that wouldn't get past more experienced people with the game."

Harry didn't feel comforted by this at all. He stopped complaining and sighed, looking over at Amelia. "Did something happen?" he asked her, noticing that concentrated look in her eyes that she got when she was thinking.

She figured now was the best time to tell him, while he was uninfluenced by Ron's outbursts. "Draco told me something interesting today," she said, avoiding the point.

"What did he say?"

Amelia sighed. "He told me that he…sorta…liked me…a little bit…"

"_What?_" Harry stared at her in shock. "Malfoy did?"

Amelia nodded.

"Well," Harry started, looking aside. "Do you like him?"

She shook her head. "Not in the same way. He's more of a friendly acquaintance than anything else."

"Why don't you tell him that, then?"

"I don't want to hurt his feelings, Harry," she said. "You may not like him, but he's done nothing to deserve that from me."

Harry looked away, clearly unimpressed by her good will. "He deserves it, that's for sure," he muttered under his breath. Amelia sighed, knowing that, in his presently agitated state, Harry would be useless with his advice. She decided to wait until seeing Hermione in the common room. When she and Harry walked past the portrait of the fat lady into the warm Gryffindor tower, where Ron and Hermione were playing chess, the game being the only thing that Ron could beat her at.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," Ron said immediately as the Harry and Amelia joined them, sitting next to their game on the couch in front of the fire. "I need to conen -," he stopped, catching sight of their expressions. "What's the matter with you two? You guys look terrible."

Harry whispered the same thing he had told Amelia earlier about Snape's sudden desire to referee at the next match.

"Don't play," Hermione told him.

"Say you're ill," Ron offered.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione said.

"_Really_ break your leg," Ron suggested.

"I can't," Harry said. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

Hermione stood and sat next to Amelia, watching her carefully. "And what happened to you?"

Harry immediately forgot his problem and whispered loudly, "Malfoy _likes _her!" he said.

Ron froze and leaned forward, forgetting the game at once. "_What?_"

Amelia frowned, resting her head against her palms, covering her face as she sank into the cushions. "He told me he likes me," she moaned.

Ron's face was still frozen for several moments afterwards, Hermione joining at staring at her.

"Why? I mean, he's a Slytherin!" she said.

Amelia shrugged and kept her face buried in her hands.

Ron's face took on a disgusted look as he said, "Ew."

At that moment Neville came toppling into the common room with his legs stuck together with a Leg-Locker Curse. It was a wonder how he had managed to even get in the common room with his legs like that. He must have had to hop all the way to Gryffindor Tower. Harry and Ron fell over laughing, instantly forgetting Amelia's distressing issue over Malfoy's confession. Hermione performed the counter curse for Neville, who got to his feet with his legs trembling.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him as he sat down next to the other three on the couch. Amelia had to scoot over closer to Harry to make room. She was surprised to find that, when her shoulder touched his, she felt very awkward and warm.

"Malfoy," Neville replied with a shaky voice. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

Amelia moaned loudly at hearing Draco's name. Harry patted her on the shoulder. Again, she felt very awkward to be so close to him.

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione told Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head and mumbled, "I don't want more trouble."

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" Ron said. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville managed to chock out.

Harry stood and felt around in his pockets before pulling out a Chocolate Frog and walked over to Neville to hand it to him. "You're worth twelve of Malfoy," he said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville's lips formed into a small smile as he unwrapped the frog and took a bite. "Thanks, Harry…I think I'll got to bed…D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

Harry took the card and look at the Famous wizard on the front as he walked away. "Dumbledore again," he said. "He was the first one I ever-,"

Harry gasped and stared at the back of the car. He looked up at Ron, Hermione, and Amelia.

"_I've found him!"_ he whispered to them. "I've found Flamel! I _told _you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here – listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel_!"

Hermione and Amelia both got to their feet. Amelia walked over and took the card out of Harry's hand to read the back, making sure that that was what it said. Hermione shouted, "Stay here!" before sprinting up to the girls' dormitories. He came back down with a large book in her arms before they could do anything.

"I never thought to look in here!" she said excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light_?" Ron said, but Hermione shushed him as she started to go through the pages frantically, muttering to herself.

When she found what she was looking for, she said. "I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" Ron said sourly. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicholas Flamel," she said. "is the _only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone_!"

"The what?" Harry, Ron, and Amelia chorused.

Hermione sighed, frustrated that this didn't have the effect that she thought it would. "Oh, _honestly_, don't you read? Look – read that, there."

She pushed the book towards them as they sat across the table that she was at and they read:

_The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. _

_There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight). _

"See?" Hermione said. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"I can't blame someone for wanting that," Amelia said, rereading the passage.

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry,_" Ron said. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

* * *

Amelia sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hermione, Ron, and Harry, copying down the different ways to treat werewolf bites. Harry and Ron were busy talking about what they would do if they had a Sorcerer's Stone while the girls kept their heads buried in their work.

"Werewolves are so cool," Amelia whispered to herself, her quill scratching on her parchment softly.

Hermione paused and looked up and her before shaking her head. "I worry about you, you know that?" she said.

"They're just interesting!" she defended, noticing her glare.

"I'm going to play," Harry said suddenly.

"Play what?" Amelia asked, her hand pausing.

"In the Quidditch match. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them…it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win," he said.

Amelia shook her head. "So winning will fix all your problems?" she teased.

"That's the plan."

She sighed. "Fine, but I don't want to be wiping you off the field afterwards," she said.

But, as the match grew closer and closer, Harry became more and more nervous, regardless of what he said. The whole Gryffindor team was anxious as well, wondering if they would be able to win the house championship or not. It had been seven years since the last time they had won, and most weren't convinced that they could do it again.

Again, like before the last game, Amelia found having a normal conversation with Harry to be difficult. His mind would wander and he would barely listen to her, and the only thing he even talked about in complete sentences was either his worries about the match, at the worst of times, and that he was perfectly normal while tapping his foot nervous, at the best of times. But this wasn't the only thing that kept Amelia from being able to get a straight sentence from him. Every time she tried, she felt herself growing warm, even if it was in the chilly atmosphere of the dungeons during Potions. Even Harry noticed her odd behavior and had tried to convince her to see Madam Pomfrey.

"You've been this way for days. Maybe you're sick," he had told her. She shook her head furiously and walked off in a rush.

She didn't understand why she couldn't act normal with him like she always had, and Malfoy watching her whenever he was near wasn't helping either.

He hadn't approached her after his initial confession, but was always staring at her, waiting for an answer, however impatient he seemed to be getting. Amelia had resorted to avoiding him whenever possible (this wasn't very easy, as he was in some of her classes and always in the Great Hall whenever she was).

The next afternoon, she pushed the thought of Malfoy out of her mind as she wished Harry good luck outside of the locker rooms. Ron and Hermione walked off to find seats in the stands as Amelia hung back, looking around nervously.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, noticing that she hadn't left yet.

Amelia sighed and threw her arms around him tightly, Harry stumbling backwards as he was caught off guard by the unexpected show of affection from her. She pulled away quickly, with her face red, and ran off to find the others. Harry stared after her, confused to no end as to why she had been acting so strange lately. He shook his head before walking inside the locker rooms, muttering that "girls were so strange."

Amelia found Ron and Hermione with Neville in the stands, looking grim as they held their wands as a precaution tightly in their hands. They had planned to use the Leg-Locker Curse if Snape showed any suspicious signs of wanting to hurt Harry during the match.

"Now, don't forget, it's _Locomotor Mortis_," Hermione muttered to Amelia and Ron.

"I _know_," Ron snapped at her. "Don't nag."

The teams marched out onto the field, meeting in the center.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," Ron said to the girls. Amelia found that Professor Snape did look a bit nastier than usual. "Look, they're off. Ouch!"

Amelia turned around to find that, out of all of the people at Hogwarts, Malfoy had poked Ron in the back of the head.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there," he said, grinning broadly at Crabbe and Goyle, who were at his side like usual.

When he found that Amelia was standing right there, his grin faded into a smaller smile that was directed exclusively at her. She felt a shiver go down her spine.

"Wonder how Potter's going to stay on his broom this time?" he said, turning back to Ron. "Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

Amelia turned her head and blocked out their conversation, watching Harry somewhat nervously, who was in the air, circling the game as he looked for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" Malfoy said loudly. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went bright red, but turned to face Malfoy with his face set.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered nervously.

Even as Malfoy and his goons laughed loudly, Ron said, "You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be stretched poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Amelia snapped. She turned around and slapped Malfoy across his face. The onlookers who were around them turned from the game to her as Malfoy stared at her with wide eyes.

"I am sick of this! It's fine if you hate them, but stop insulting my friends in front of me, _Malfoy_!" she shouted. Draco watched her in confusion. She had never called him by his last name before. She turned around with an angry huff and sat back in her seat, muttering that Neville was worth more than just twelve of Malfoy.

"Ron, Amelia," Hermione said suddenly. "Harry -!"

Amelia stood again and watched as Harry went into a dive, drawing gasps and cheers from the crowd of students and teachers as he streaked towards the ground. She watched in anticipation as he shot directly at Snape, who turned on his broomstick just in time to watch Harry shoot past him. Harry pulled out of the dive with the Snitch clasped in his hand, raised in triumph.

The stands roared with cheers at the record catch.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" Hermione shouted, hugging Amelia tightly as they jumped up and down in the seats.

Amelia pulled away as she watched the teams go back into the locker rooms to change. She smiled and went back to hugging the other immediate Gryffindors around her.

They found Harry hours later on their way to the common room.

"Harry, where have you _been?_" Hermione said.

"We won! You won! We won!" was all that Ron seemed to be able to say at the moment as he slapped Harry on the back. "And Amelia slapped Malfoy right across the face! Talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

Harry looked briefly interested in Amelia's outburst, but forgot about it as he said, "Never mind that now. Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this…"

They found one and shut the door quietly once they were all inside. Harry made sure they were alone and that Peeves wasn't in the room either before he told them about the conversation he had seen between Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell.

"So we were right, it _is _the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' – I reckon there are other tings guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through -," Harry told them.

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" Hermione said in alarm.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," Ron said.

Amelia sighed and shook her head. "I still don't see why Snape would want the stone."

"Who wouldn't?" Ron said in exclamation.


	10. I: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 10 – Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

Quirrell proved to be braver than they had anticipated him to be. Over the next few weeks he may have gotten paler and thinner than he usually was, but he looked as though he hadn't cracked and told Snape what he knew about getting to the Stone yet.

Still, every time Amelia, Harry, and Ron passed by the third–floor corridor, they made sure that Fluffy was still there by pressing their ears against the door to see if they could hear him growling. Harry and Ron had begun to start sticking up for Quirrell whenever he was teased for stuttering or would simply give him an encouraging smile when seeing him in the hallways.

Hermione, however, had her mind on other matters at the time. She began to make herself study schedules for exams and color-coding her notes to make topics easier to find. Amelia found the notes to be very helpful when Hermione let her borrow them (especially her Transfiguration notes. Amelia had begun to think that she'd never pass Professor McGonagall's class, only excelling in one of their first classes. Afterwards, everything had gone downhill). The study schedule that Hermione had made her, however, gave her little time to do anything else besides Transfiguration.

"I hate the subject. Why does this say have to do so much of it?" Amelia whined. "And what's this about studying Potions only _once_ out of the whole two weeks!"

"Transfiguration is your weakest subject, so naturally you should study more of it," Hermione told her. "Potions, however, is your best. Did you even learn anything new this year with Snape?"

Amelia looked away, feeling sheepish. "Not much."

"Exactly. I know that you'll get nearly a perfect score on that test."

Amelia found that Hermione helping her with her exams to be very kind and, as much as she hated it, very helpful. Harry and Ron, however, found them nothing more than annoying.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away," Ron said.

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped back at him. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicholas Flamel."

"But we're not six-hundred years old," Ron said. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you know it all already."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to – Amelia, give me the book." Hermione held her hand out, waiting for the other to drop the potions book into it.

Amelia glared and groaned, angrily slamming it down on the table and folding her arms across her chest. "I have free time. Why can't I read it?"

"If you have free time than practice your Transfiguration."

"But that's all I ever seem to be doing! You're schedule doesn't work."

"It would if you stick to it."

Harry smiled sympathetically and patted her head.

Hermione turned her attention back to Ron. "You realize we need to pass these exams to get into our second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me…"

Unfortunately, the teachers were thinking the same thing as Hermione was, and piled on as much homework as they could, making the Easter holidays much more dreadful than the Christmas ones had been. Amelia, Ron, and Harry spent much of their time in the library, studying with Hermione and toughing out all their extra work. This didn't help much in Amelia's case, seeing as Hermione had to keep her nearly bound to the chair to prevent her from wandering and procrastinating on her assignments.

"I'll never remember this," Ron said one afternoon as he threw his quill down at stared out of the library window. It was the first clear day in months, the first blue skies before summer, and he was not happy about having to spend it indoors.

Amelia twirled her wand a little, muttering the Transfiguration spell that Hermione had given her to practice. She moaned when it didn't work – yet again – and rested her head on the table, muttering to herself about how she didn't care if she failed McGonagall's class. Hermione shook her head.

She lifted her head up when she heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid hobbled into view from the shelf he had been looking at, hiding something behind his back.

"Jus' lookin'," he said with a shifty voice that made the four first years instantly curious. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He asked, changing his tone to be suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicholas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," Ron said. "_And _we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St-,"

"_Shhhh!_" Hagrid worriedly glanced around quickly to make sure no one was listening in. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," Harry said.

"Like what else is guarding the stone besides your monster-" Amelia started.

"SHHHH!" Hagrid said again. "Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell you anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –"

"See you later then," Harry said. Hagrid shuffled off and out of the library.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" Hermione said.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I doubt it, that section is a Dragonkeeper's paradise," Amelia said, letting out a sigh and folding her arms across her chest. Ron glanced at her. "What? I've been in here a lot lately," she said defensively.

Ron walked over to the section and returned with an incredibly large pile of books in his arms. They crashed onto the table when he dropped them. "She's right! Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide._"

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," Harry said.

"It's illegal to own a dragon though," Amelia said. "Dragon breeding was outlawed in the 1700's. It'd be hard to keep Muggles from noticing us if we kept giant fire-breathing monsters as pets in our backyards."

"It's dangerous, too. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania," Ron added.

"But there aren't any wild dragons in _Britain_?" Harry asked.

"Of course there are," Ron answered. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks."

"The Ministry of Magic has the job of keeping them quiet, too, and keep having to spell Muggles who have gotten too close. My mother nearly got her leg torn off when she first started in the Ministry, trying to relocate a Welsh Green. The scars aren't a pretty sight," Amelia said.

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" Hermione said.

They went down to Hagrid's an hour later, surprised to see all the curtains closed. They knocked on the door loudly. "Who is it?" Hagrid called from inside. He opened to door briefly to let them in before snapping it shut behind them.

It was blazingly hot inside the small hut. Even on such a warm day, Hagrid had to fire going in the grate. He made them tea and stoat sandwiches, the later of which they had to decline.

"So – yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," Harry began. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at the small children.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Beats me how you can keep that thing a secret!" Amelia exclaimed, drinking her tea.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you _do_ know, you know everything that goes on round here," Hermione said, flattering him. Hagrid's beard twitched in satisfaction, smiling under all the hair. "We only wondered who had _done_ the guarding, really. We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Amelia smiled as she saw Hagrid's chest swelled with pride at Hermione's words. Harry and Ron beamed a smile towards her, forever grateful.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that…let's see…he borrowed Fluffy from me…then some o' the teachers did enchantments…Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall –" He counted them off on his fingers as he called them off. "Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"_Snape?_" Harry, Ron, and Hermione echoed. Amelia looked up in surprise.

"Yeah – yer not sill on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped _protect_ the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Harry looked deep in thought when Amelia looked over at the rest of the group. She knew by the look on his face that even Hagrid couldn't convince him that Snape wasn't trying to steal the Stone. She sighed, figuring that boys were just not meant to be understood.

"But no one else knows how to get past Fluffy, right?" Amelia asked.

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," Hagrid said with pride.

"Well, that's something," she heard Harry mutter. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," Hagrid said. They caught him glancing at the fire and followed his gaze.

"Hagrid – what's _that_?" Harry asked.

In the middle of the fire was a huge, black egg, and they all knew what it was instantly.

"Ah," Hagrid said, tugging nervously at his beard. "That's – er…"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" Ron said, crouching over to view the egg better in the fire. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," Hagrid said. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"What are you going to do when it hatches?" Amelia asked, moving around the table.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," he said, pulling out a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library – _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ – it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour." Amelia felt her stomach drop a little at hearing a dragon's diet. She was certainly glad that it wasn't her that was obsessed with having a dragon. "An' see here –" he continued on. "How ter recognize diff'rent eggs – what I got here's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

He seemed very pleased with himself for having such a rare find, but Hermione was thinking otherwise.

"Hagrid, you live in a _wooden house_," she said.

Hagrid paid her no mind, humming happily to himself as he stocked the fire.

* * *

To add to all their troubles, Hagrid was now hatching an illegal dragon.

"I wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron said one evening, sighing deeply.

"Must be nice," Amelia added. Homework had been piled on from every teacher in large loads, making nearly every evening a study session, and not simply for Amelia and her special study schedule - Hermione had made ones for Ron and Harry, too, and it was driving them insane.

But Amelia was having other problems besides simply schoolwork and finals that were quickly approaching. Malfoy, quite put out that he had been so rudely slapped, had made her his new target for bullying. It seemed to Amelia that she must not have meant all that much to him, or he wouldn't have switched from watching her constantly to hating her so entirely.

One afternoon, she had been sitting with the others in the Great Hall eating lunch, and Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle and stomped up to them. In an act of rudeness, Malfoy had shoved Amelia face into her food, throwing his head back with his friends in laughter.

"How dare you-," Ron had ground out, standing up instantly and jumping across the table to tackle Malfoy to the ground. Amelia hadn't noticed them rolling around on the floor, hadn't noticed them throwing punches at each others, as Hermione helped her wipe the mushed food from her face.

"I can't believe he did that," Hermione muttered to herself. It didn't take Harry long to join in on the fight, but Snape had walked up behind them and pulled the two boys apart by the back of their cloaks.

"What is the meaning of this?" he exclaimed. "Fighting is not permitted,"

"It was that slimy git's fault!" was all Ron could say, struggling to pull himself away.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your ill conduct, Mr. Weasly," Snape said.

"That's not fair!" Harry exclaimed, standing defiantly up to the potions master. "Malfoy was the one who-,"

"It's all right, Harry," Amelia said. She held a napkin in her hand and she tried to wipe out the last pieces of food stuck in her hair. Snape glanced at her, curious now as to why the boys were actually fighting rather than an opportunity to deduct points from Gryffindor. "Just let it go," she whispered to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He didn't look very happy about this and opened his mouth to argue, but paused when he saw the tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. "I'm all right,"

"What has happened here?" Snape demanded. Amelia glanced around uncertainly, not liking that nearly every one in the Great Hall was now watching the group.

"Malfoy shoved Amelia into her lunch!" Ron shouted. "He's the one who should be punished!"

Snape stalked quickly from the hall, Draco held tightly in his fist.

From that moment on, any death threat towards the blonde had an accomplice in Amelia. She now held a personal grudge, something that she had never thought she would have.

Concerning Hagrid's dragon, however, that held much more importance to her, it didn't take much longer for Hedwig to send Harry a message one morning during breakfast from Hagrid that simply said; _It's hatching. _Ron had desperately wanted to skip Herbology to visit Hagrids, but Hermione kept all three of them glued to their seats during class.

"Hermione, this may be the one time we get to see a dragon hatch!" Amelia pleaded.

"But we've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing-"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered. Malfoy had been only feet away and watching them, dead still as he listened. He had a suspicious look on his face that they didn't like.

Ron and Hermione kept up the argument all the way to Herbology that morning and, in the end, Hermione had agreed to go to Hagrid's during their morning break. As soon as the bell sounded throughout the castle at the end of their first lesson, the four sprinted over to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them with a flushed face, ecstatic.

"It's nearly out," he whispered as he ushered them inside.

The egg was lying on the table with deep cracks going down the sides, something obviously moving inside. The creature gave off a clicking noise. The four drew up chairs and sat with bated breath as they watched the egg slowly crumble. A sudden scraping from the inside and the egg shattered, the baby dragon flopping out onto the wood table.

It wasn't the most attractive baby animal Amelia had ever seen. If anything, it looked like a wet bird dipped in tar. It had long, spiny wings and a slim body, a long snout and small horns at the top of its head. It's eyes were large and nearly ready to pop out of its head. When it sneezed, sparks flew from its snout.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid muttered. He reached out to stroke the dragon's head, but the baby snapped at him, displaying its pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" Hagrid said in adoration.

"Hagrid," Hermione started. "How fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid opened his mouth to answer, but the color quickly drained from his face. He got to his feet and stumbled over to the window.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry bolted to the door and peeked out. He turned back to the other three with a pale face.

"Malfoy," was all he needed to say to give the others the same complexion.

* * *

Malfoy kept a smirk on his face in the following week that made Amelia, Ron, Hermione, and Harry all nervous. They spent much of this time with Hagrid, desperately trying to convince him that he needed to let the dragon go.

"Set him free," Harry urged.

"I can't," Hagrid said. "He's too little. He'd die,"

However, the dragon was far from being little. It had nearly tripled in size in its single week of life. Smoke kept bubbling from its mouth. Hagrid hadn't been able to keep up with his duties as gamekeeper, either, with the dragon taking up nearly all of his time. His hut was littered with empty bottles and chicken feathers strewn about.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," Hagrid said. He gaze at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?" he called.

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered.

"Hagrid," Harry said loudly. "Give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as you house,"

"Malfoy could go and tell Dumbledore at minute, and who knows what will happen to you," Amelia pleaded. Hagrid bit his lip.

"I-I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry suddenly turned to Ron and said, "Charlie,"

"You're losing it, too," he returned. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"That's right!" Amelia said. "You're brother Charlie works with dragons, doesn't he? We could send Norbert to him in Romania! He could take care of him and then release him into the wild!"

"That's brilliant!" Ron said. "How about it, Hagrid?"

In the end, Hagrid reluctantly agreed that it would be acceptable to send an owl to Charlie to ask him.

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully. On Wednesday night, Harry, Hermione, and Amelia sat alone in the common room after the rest of Gryffindor house had gone to bed. The clock on the wall rang out at midnight and the portrait hole burst open, Ron appearing out of nowhere when he removed Harry's invisibility cloak from his body. He had gone to Hagrid's to help him feed Norbert who was growing larger by the minute.

"It bit me!" he shouted, holding out his hand wrapped in a blood-soaked handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Amelia mumbled.

"That dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met," he continued on. "But the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me, he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby,"

"Aw, that's so cute," Amelia said. Ron glared at her and she held her hands up in innocence.

There was a tap on the window and instantly Harry said, "It's Hedwig!" He rushed over to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The four of them crowded around Harry to read the note.

_Dear Ron,_

_How are you? Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

_Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

_Send me an answer as soon as possible._

_Love, _

_Charlie_

They each glanced at one another.

"We've got the invisibility cloak," Harry said. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak's big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

The week had been bad enough that everyone instantly agreed to the plan, desperate to get rid of Norbert and Malfoy.

Unfortunately, everything didn't go as smoothly as they had hoped. By morning, Ron's hand had swollen to twice its normal size, and he wasn't sure if he should go to Madam Pomfrey, worried she might recognize the bite marks as belonging to a dragon. But by that afternoon, he had no choice but to. The cut had turned a disgusting shade of green, a sign that Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

Hermione, Amelia, and Harry had rushed up the hospital wing as soon as the last bell rang at the end of the day to find Ron distraught in his bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered to them. "Although it feels like its about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me."

The others tried to calm Ron down.

"At least this will all be over Saturday," Amelia said, but Ron wasn't soothed by this in the least. He sat upright in a snapping motion and went pale.

"Saturday!" he said hoarsely. "Oh no - oh no - I've just remembered - Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Amelia opened her mouth to yell at him for being so careless, but Madam Pomfrey quickly ushered them out the door, saying that Ron needed to rest.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione and Amelia once they got back to the common room. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert."

Amelia sighed. "We'll just have to risk it. Plus, we have your Invisibility Cloak, and Malfoy has yet to find out about that."

When they went to Hagrid's to tell him, Fang was sitting outside with his tail bandaged. Hagrid had to open a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he breathed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle."

However, his eyes grew teary and misty when they told him about Charlie's letter. It might've had to do with how Norbert had just bitten him hard on the leg. "Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot," he assured them. "Jus' playin' - he's only a baby, after all."

Norbert banged his tail harshly against the wall, making the windows of the hut rattle violently. The three first years returned to the castle, feeling that Saturday would come far too slowly.

* * *

Far from being insensitive, they would have felt sorry for Hagrid having to lose Norbert, but the fact that they were going to have to smuggle a dragon out of the castle took greater priority. The night they arrived at Hagrid's hut, it was dark and cloudy and after the time they had said they would be there. Peeves had been playing tennis against the entrance hall wall, forcing them to wait until he left.

When they arrived, Hagrid had Norbert ready to go in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," Hagrid told them in a sad, muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely." Amelia though that the teddy bear must be having a terrible time from the loud ripping sounds coming from the crate.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed in farewell as Harry, Hermione, and Amelia covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath after. "Mommy will never forget you!"

They wouldn't have been able to recall how they had gotten the crate up the castle as midnight came closer and closer upon them. They heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and traveled along the dark corridors towards the tower. They struggled up another few staircases, having a hard time even with the shortcuts that Harry led them through.

"Almost there," Amelia panted as they finally reached the corridor leading to the tallest tower.

There was a sudden movement in front of them and the crate dropped to the ground in-between them, momentarily forgetting that they were invisible. They moved into the shadows, watching two people nearly ten feet away. One of them was holding a lamp and created enough light to see who they were. Professor McGonagall, in her bathrobe and a hair net, held on tightly to Malfoy by his ear.

"Detention!" she shouted to him. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how _dare _you-"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!"

Amelia laughed. Even if it was true, it sounded like a ridiculous idea coming from Draco's mouth.

"What utter rubbish!" McGonagall snapped. "How dare you tell such lies! Come one - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Once they were out of sight, the trio continued on to the steep spiral staircase that led to the top of the tower, which seemed a lot easier after the long trek they had behind them. Once they stepped into the night air, they threw off the cloak, thankful to be able to breath right again. Hermione was ecstatic.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!" she said.

"Don't," Harry said.

Amelia chuckled shortly. "Let's wait to celebrate until Norbert's gone and we're back in the Common Room,"

They only waited for ten minutes at the top of the tower until four people on broomsticks came swooping at them out of the night sky. They were Charlie's friends. They were in a cheery mood as they showed Amelia, Hermione, and Harry the harness they had suspended between them for Norbert. They helped them buckle the dragon safely in, shook hands with the three before flying off the way they had come.

They went back down the staircase, feeling that they were floating. The dragon was gone, Malfoy was in detention, it seemed that they're worries had been solved in one night.

As they laughed down the stairs, they paused at the bottom. As they took their first steps back into the corridor, Filch's face popped out at them with a self-satisfying smile.

"Well, well, well," he whispered. "we _are_ in trouble."

Amelia glanced around too late. The invisibility cloak had been left at the top of the tower.


	11. I: The Forbidden Forest

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 11 - The Forbidden Forest

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

Amelia felt her throat constrict and her eyes tearing as Filch led the three down to Professor McGonagall's study. They sat and waited for her, not daring to say a word to each other or even risk a glance. Amelia sat next to Hermione; she could feel her trembling. If there was a story that they could tell McGonagall, she couldn't think of it, feeling it would be useless. They wouldn't be able to get out of trouble this time.

How could they have been stupid enough to leave the cloak up at the tower? Amelia knew McGonagall, and there was no cover-up they could give that would get them out of trouble now. On top of simply being out after hours, they had been at the tallest tower, banned to students unless they were in class. If she found out about Norbert, things would only be worse. They were as good as expelled.

When Professor McGonagall arrived, she had Neville in tow.

"Harry!" he shout out, the moment he saw them. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-"

Harry was shaking his head violently to tell him to stop talking before he caused them anymore trouble. Unfortunately, she saw this, and seemed like she was going to roar at them and breath fire as a dragon should.

"I would never have believed it of any of you," she scolded. "Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain youselves._"

Amelia had never thought Hermione would fail to answer a question given by a teacher, but she was still as stone as McGonagall spoke, staring down at her slippers. Amelia found her hands very interesting as she wrung them together, feeling her heart beating fast in her chest.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," McGonagall said. "It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Neville looked hurt beyond belief as Harry tried to get his attention and silently tell him that it wasn't true. It had taken Neville a lot of courage to get out of bed to try and find them to warn them.

"I'm disgusted," she continued. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr. Potter, I though Gryffindor meant more to you than this. And Ms. Warrington," McGonagall paused and sighed. "I thought you would be above such childish rule-breaking."

Amelia felt her guilt rise even higher. The disappointment from Professor McGonagall only made it worse.

"All four of you will receive detentions - yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, _nothing_ gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very fangerous - and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

"_Fifty_?" Harry gasped. Amelia's mouth gaped open. After a fifty point deduction, Gryffindor would no longer be in the lead to win the house cup, the lead they had only from the points that Harry had won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points _each_," McGonagall said, breathing heavily.

"Professor - please-"

"That's not fair-"

"You _can't_-"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Amelia couldn't believe her ears. They had lost Gryffindor two hundred points in one night. Gryffindor was now in last place. It had only taken them one night to rid them of any chance they had a winning the house cup. Her stomach had risen into her stomach. There would be no way to make-up for this.

Amelia got a mere few hours sleep that night, spending most of it whispering to Hermione.

"I feel horrible," she said. "No one will forgive us when they find out in the morning,"

Hermione sighed and nodded, turning over, giving her a mumbled, "Good-night,"

When morning came, the first students walking past the hourglasses that kept record of all the house points took double looks at the drop in points, thinking that there must have been a mistake for two hundred points to suddenly vanish. That's when the rumors started: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, the hero of the Quidditch team, had lost them two hundred points along with three other first years.

Amelia, Hermione, and Neville had suddenly become outcasts, but Harry seemed to have been exiled from other students that had become to avoid him like the plague, casting hateful glances at him whenever possible. Even the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs held a grudge, as they were all hoping to see Slytherin lose the house cup this year. People pointed and insulted him, while Slytherins clapped and cheered whenever they saw him. Only Ron was unaffected by this, and stood by them.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"Did they ever lose two hundred points at once?" Amelia snapped.

"Well - no," he admitted.

Amelia told herself that, now, she would stop concerning herself with other people's lives and focus on her own for the time being. Hermione started keeping her head down in classes, refusing to answer the teachers' questions and working by herself in silence. Amelia, too, kept to herself during lessons, but couldn't escape the disappointed looks from all the teachers. McGonagall, seeing her nearly in tears every day, had stopped staring at her as such, and left her to herself. Professor Flitwick did the same, offering a comforting gaze every once and a while.

Potions had become her least favorite lesson. The Slytherins had poked fun at her and Hermione constantly, jeering at them in congratulations for letting them win. Snape himself had taken on this approach, stopping by her to let her know that he had thought better of her. No longer an example in her favorite subject, she felt her mood rapidly spiralling toward depression.

The only good thing was that exams were quickly approaching, giving her to the chance to hole herself up in the common room and stick her nose into books for hours on end, trying to study to keep her mind off of her misery. She, Ron, Hermione, and Harry worked late into the night, memorizing complex potions, learning as many spells and charms as possible, memorizing the dates of magical discoveries and dozens of goblin rebellions.

During one of these sessions, a tapping at the window drew their attention. There was an owl fluttering outside the glass with a letter tied to its foot. Hermione stood to retrieve it, opening the window to grab the message. She quickly read the name on the front before holding it out to Amelia.

"It's for you," she said.

Amelia took it hesitatingly, feeling her stomach drop when she recognized the handwriting on the front as belonging to her parents. She stood and isolated her self in the girls' dorm to read it, not wanting to be around others.

_Amelia,_

_Professor McGonagall has written to us about your excursion a couple weeks ago-_

Amelia threw it aside, unable to read any more, afraid of her parents anger. She rested her head against her knees and took shaky breaths, stopping herself from crying, knowing that it would do no good to start weeping. There was a soft knock on the door and Hermione entered. She saw Amelia's glassy blue eyes and immediately walked over and wrapped her arms around her. She said nothing, allowing Amelia to cry as she knew she needed to.

They returned to the common room minutes later with Amelia wiping at her eyes. Harry looked down, avoiding her eyes. She could clearly see that she was making him feel guilty. She returned to her seat next to him and gave him the best smile she could.

"It's nothing, don't worry," she whispered, returning to her astronomy chart as if nothing had happened. She told herself that she would suck it up and put on the cheeriest face she could if it meant never seeing that look in Harry's eyes.

It was around a week before the end of the year exams were going to take place that Harry left Amelia, Ron, and Hermione at the library to return to the common room on his own. By the time they had decided that it was time they return as well, Harry had come running back in.

"You won't believe what I just heard," he had began, telling them how he had overheard Quirrell in an empty classroom, sounding as if he was begging and pleading with someone - Harry had his suspicions that it must have been Snape - before giving into to the person's demands.

"Snape's done it then!" Ron said. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"

"But he'd still have to find out how to get around Hagrid's little Cerebrus," Amelia added.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," Ron said. He glanced up at the thousands of books around them in the library. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"

Before Harry could respond, Hermione said, "Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago."

Amelia nodded. "We could be expelled if we get into anymore trouble."

"But we've got no _proof_!" Harry said. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to sat he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor - who do you think they'll believe, him or us?" Amelia glanced down at her papers in defeat. She had to admit that he had a point. Four first years wouldn't hold much testimony against a teacher. "It's not exactly a secret we hate him. Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."

Amelia and Hermione were convinced, but Ron still had that twinkling of adventure in his eyes.

"If we just do a bit of poking around -"

"No, Ron. Harry's right," Amelia said. "I think we've done enough poking our noses in around here for one year."

Harry nodded and pulled out a map of Jupiter and begun to memorize the names of its moons.

* * *

The next morning, the owl post delivered letters to Harry, Amelia, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were identical, all containing the same message"

Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.

_Professor McGonagall_

Amelia sighed, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. She had been thinking about her detention for the few days since the incident, and felt even more self-loathing for allowing herself to do such a thing and lose so many points. Even Hermione didn't speak about losing a whole night of studying or something of the like. Like the others, she knew that they had deserved what they had got.

At eleven, they said good night to Ron in the Gryffindor common room before walking down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch already stood by the door with Malfoy.

"Follow me," he said curtly, lighting a lamp and leading them out the door and onto the grounds.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes...hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me...It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out...hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed,"

Amelia felt a chill run down her spine. Filch was much crueler than she had initially thought.

"Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do," he finished.

They took off across the dark grounds. Neville, to Amelia's side, kept sniffling. Amelia put a hand to his shoulder in comfort. He turned to her slightly with a failing smile. She knew that he, like herself, was wondering what they would be forced to do, what their punishment would be, how terrible it could be. It must be, otherwise Filch wouldn't have sounded so pleased.

The moon was high in the sky and shining brightly, but clouds crawled across, obscuring their light and throwing a blanket of darkness over them. Ahead, the lights of Hagrid's hut were visible. There was a distant shout towards them.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started," Hagrid's voice sounded.

Amelia, for a moment, knew that having detention with Hagrid would be much better than staying with Filch. She felt hope rise in her chest. She saw that Harry was happy about this as well.

Filch frowned and said, "I supposed you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy - it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."

Neville let out a small moan of terror. Malfoy stopped in this tracks, unable to move forward. "The forest?" he repeated, his voice high in fear. "We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things in there - werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched onto Harry's sleeve hard and made a choking noise in the back of his throat.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" Filch said, his smile far from hiding his glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

Hagrid appeared out of the dark of the forest with Fang at his heels as he walked towards them. He held his crossbow in his hands and a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Amelia, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly with them, Hagrid," Filch hissed. "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" Hagrid said with a frown towards Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

Amelia nearly laughed in relief. "I'll be back at down," Filch said, "for what's left of them," he added, turning and starting back towards the castle. His lamp bobbed into the darkness until he was too distant to see anymore.

Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I'm not going in that forest," he said. Amelia noticed the panic in his voice.

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," Hagrid said harshly. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay for it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do," Malfoy continued. "I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd -"

" - tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled at him. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Amelia felt a sense of justice being done as Malfoy stood, fuming. He could only stare furiously at Hagrid before averting his eyes elsewhere.

"Right then, " Hagrid began. "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He brought them to the edge of the forest, where the trees were the thinnest and the moon was still visible. Holding his lamp out, he pointed to a narrow track that winded through the trees and disappeared into the forest. A light breeze blew across their path.

"Look there," Hagrid said, pointing to the ground. "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Malfoy snapped, his voice shaking with fear.

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," Hagrid replied. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

Amelia clutched Harry's arm tightly, refusing to separate from him. He patted her arm as a small form of comfort.

"I want Fang," Malfoy said quickly, examining Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," Hargid said. Amelia chuckled to herself. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione," Hagrid took one glance of Amelia clutching to Harry and laughed. "an' Amelia'll go one way an' Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."

They headed out together in one group into the black forest. A silence seemed to surround them that made Amelia shake with fear. Harry grasped her hand with a tight squeeze and pulled her along after the group as they reached a fork in the path. Hagrid led them down the left path and they watched Draco and Neville with Fang at their side. take the other.

They walked in silence, occasionally catching a glimpse of silver-blue blood on leaves or trees when the moon broke through the thick canopy above them.

Amelia turned up to Hagrid and asked, "_Could_ a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" in a trembling voice.

Hagrid shook his head. "Not fast enough. It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."

"Then that means that it's something stronger," she said, her voice rising an octave.

Hagrid smiled and patted her head. "Don' you worry. Nothin'll hurt yeh if yer with me."

They passed and mossy stump where they could hear running water, most likely from a nearby stream. Spots of unicorn blood dotted here and there along the path. Hermione grabbed Amelia's other hand.

"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid asked. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt, an' then we'll be able ter - GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"

Hagrid seized Hermione and Amelia off the ground and grabbed Harry by the back of his robes, dragging them behind a towering oak tree. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his bow, raising it towards the dark, ready to fire in an instant. The four listened into the dark and heard a strange slithering over dead leaves, almost like a cloak trailing along the forest floor. The sound faded away after a few moments.

"I knew it," Hagrid murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."

"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.

"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," Hagrid replied grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."

They paced slowly, straining their ears for the slightest sound. In a clearing ahead, something suddenly moved. "Who's there?" Hagrid called out. "Show yerself - I'm armed!"

A creature slipped into the small amount of light that had drifted through the trees. To the waist was a man with red hair and a matching beard, but below was the chestnut body of a horse with a matching tail. Harry, Hermione, and Amelia felt their mouths drop.

"Oh, it's you, Ronan," Hagrid sighed in relief. "How are yeh?" He walked forward to shake the centaur's hand.

"Good evening to you, Hagrid," Ronan said in a deep, melancholy voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"

"Can't be too careful, Ronan" Hagrid said, shifting his crossbow. "There's simmat bad loose in this forest. This is Harry Potter an' Hermione Granger an' Amelia Warrington, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you three. He's a -"

"A centaur!" Amelia exclaimed, running forward to shake his hand. "This is amazing! I've been wanting to meet one of your kind for years! How many are in the forest? How long have you lived here? Where do you come from? What do you eat? Why -"

"That's enough, Amelia," Hagrid said, pulling her back by the waist.

Ronan smiled in good humor. "Good evening," he greeted. "Students are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"

"Erm -"

"A bit," Hermione said timidly.

"Not nearly enough! I have so many questions for -" Amelia began, but Harry covered her mouth with his hand.

"Well, that's something," Ronan sighed. He turned his head towards the sky and stared at the stars. "Mars is bright tonight."

"Really?" Amelia said, looking up with Hagrid.

"Listen," Hagrid said. "I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt - you seen anythin'?"

Ronan took his time responding, staring upward before sighing. "Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."

"Yeah, but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?" Hagrid urged.

"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated. Hagrid watched him, his patience waning. "Unusually bright."

"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home," Hagrid said. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"

Again, Ronan didn't reply immediately. "The forest hides many secrets."

A movement in the trees behind Ronan had Hagrid raising his crossbow again in defence, only to lower it when a second centaur appealed, black-haired and with a more wild appearance.

"Hullo, Bane," Hagrid said. "All right?"

"Good evening, Hagrid. I hope you are well?" Bane replied.

"Well, enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan -"

"Another one!" Amelia exclaimed, breaking free to stare up at Bane. She reached out and carefully stroked his back, patting his flanks. Bane's tail twitched. Hagrid grabbed her again and held her back with his arm.

"I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, yu seen anythin' odd in here lately? There's a unicorn bin injured - would yeh know anything' about it?" Hagrid repeated.

Bane walked over to Ronan and looked to the stars. "Mars is bright tonight," he said.

"We've heard," Hagrid grumbled. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."

Harry, Hermione, and Amelia stared over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane as they followed Hagrid out of the clearing until the trees had grown too thick for them to see through.

"Never try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur," Hagrid said irritable. "Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."

"How many are in here?" Amelia asked, eyes shining with excitement. Harry nearly laughed; she was so easily distracted.

"Oh, a fair few...Keep to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs...they know things...jus' don' let on much

"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" Harry asked.

"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns - never heard anything' like it before."

They walked on through the forest. Harry kept looking over his shoulder nervously, and Amelia felt as if something was following them, watching them. Hagrid and his crossbow seemed to be their only defence out here.

"Both the centaurs said that Mars was bright," Amelia began.

"That could mean anythin'. Can't take a centaur at it's word," Hagrid said.

"But Mars has always stood for males. Maybe whatever is in here is - "

But Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm and pointed into the sky not far from them. "Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"

"You three wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"

He took off, crashing through the undergrowth. The three watched him until they could barely hear the rustling of leaves from his large body. Amelia grabbed Harry's hand again and Hermione crowded in close.

"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville...it's our fault he's here in the first place," Harry said.

Their ears grew sharper to small sounds as the minutes ticked by. It seemed that Amelia could hear every twig cracking, and Hermione turned at every breeze that brushed past them. A crunching noise accompanied Hagrid's return with Malfoy, Neville, and Fang at his side. Hagrid's face was scrunched up in anger. It seemed that Malfoy had snuck up behind Neville and grabbed him as his idea of a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're chaing' groups - Neville, you stay with me, Hermione, an' Amelia, Harry out go with Fang an' this idiot."

"Wait!" Amelia called out. She rushed forward to stick to Harry. "I'm not leaving him!"

Malfoy smirked. "Afraid something's going to happen to your boyfriend, Warrington?"

Amelia scowled, but did not reply.

Hagrid sighed. "All right, then. You too, Amelia."

They set off into the heart of the forest with Fang and Malfoy, walking for nearly half an hour until the trees had become so thick that the path was hard to follow any further. The blood seemed to be getting thicker on the trees. Splashes adored the roots of the trees, almost as if the creature had been thrashing around from its wound. Through the tangled branches up ahead, they could see a clearing.

"Look -" Harry murmured, holding his arm out to stop Malfoy. Something bright and white was laying on the ground.

It was definitely the unicorn, though it was already dead. Amelia had never seen anything as beautiful and sad at the same time. It's legs were thrown into the air at awkward angles and its mane was spread across the dark leaves, pearly white in the darkness.

They took one step forward before Harry and Amelia heard the slithering sound from earlier that made them freeze. Out of the shadows, a hooded figure was crawling across the ground, stalking the deceased unicorn. Harry, Malfoy, Amelia, and Fang stood in silence, unable to tear their eyes away. The figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head to the wound in the animal's side, and began to lap at its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Malfoy screamed, bolting back along the path with Fang.

The figure raised its head and stared right at Harry and Amelia, white blood dribbling down its front. It slid to its feet and swiftly made its way towards the two. Amelia froze, unable to move through her fear.

Suddenly, Harry staggered backwards, his hand to his head with his mouth wide open in a silent scream. A hoofed creature bounded over the two of them, charging at the cloaked creature. Harry fell to his knees.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Amelia asked, kneeling beside him.

"My scar," he croaked.

Amelia watched the new addition to the clearing paw at the air in front of the figure viciously until it glided away into the bushes. Harry's breathing grew even again as the creature paced towards them. It was a centaur, this one with white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" he said, helping Harry to his feet.

"Yes - thank you - what _was_ that?"

The centaur didn't answer his question, choosing to examine Harry instead with his bright blue eyes that lingered on the car on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time - especially for you. Can you two ride? It will be quicker this way."

Amelia squealed in delight as the centaur lowered himself to the ground so that they could climb onto his back. She jumped over to him, climbing on behind Harry with a laugh and a smile.

"My name is Firenze," the centaur added. He looked to Amelia.

"I'm Amelia," she introduced.

He nodded. "It is a pleasure."

The sound of galloping reached their ears from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane crashed through the brush, breathing heavily and sweaty from exertion.

"Firenze!" Bane roared. "What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realize who this is?" Firenze said. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."

"And the other one? Will you let two humans ride you like a pet? What have you been telling them?" Bane growled. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

Ronan pawed at the ground tentatively. "I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he added in a gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs high into the air in anger.

"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze jerked his weight onto his back legs, his hind legs kicking in anger. Harry and Amelia grabbed onto what they could to stay on.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at the others. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must." With that, Firenze plunged into the trees behind him, leaving Ronan and Bane in the clearing.

Harry and Amelia were both confused.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"

Firenze, instead of answering, warned the two to keep their heads low to avoid branches and slowed to a walk. They continued on in silence for a long time until Firenze stopped in a thick and dense patch of trees.

"Harry Potter, young Amelia, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," Harry replied. "We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions."

Amelia shook her head. "No idea."

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," Firenze said. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

Amelia and Harry were silent for a moment. "But what could make someone desperate enough to kill a unicorn?" she asked. "If it'll curse you, wouldn't death be better?"

"It is," Firenze agreed. "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die. Mr. Potter, Ms. Amelia, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Sorcerer's Stone!" the chorused together.

"Of course - the Elixir of Life!" Harry continued. "But I don't understand who -"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

Amelia felt a shiver rush over her and an invisible hand grab her throat. She had known that Voldemort had suddenly vanished, but to still out there...And he was so close to the school...

"Do you mean," Harry croaked out. "that was _Vol_ -"

"Harry! Amelia! Are you two all right?"

They turned and watched Hermione and Hagrid run down the path towards them.

"We're fine," Amelia said. "Though, the unicorn's dead. It's in the clearing back there." Amelia pointed behind them.

"This is where I leave you two," Firenze said as Hagrid rushed to find the unicorn. "You are safe now."

Harry and Amelia slid off his back as Firenze lowered his front legs to make it easier.

"Good luck, Harry Potter," Firenze added as he began to walk off. "The planets have been read wrongly before, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times." He galloped back into the forest without a backward glance.

* * *

They returned and found Ron asleep in the common room where he had waited for them to return to the tower. He shouted nonsense about Quidditch when Harry shook him awake. It only took a few seconds for him to become fully awake once the three recounted their story from the forest.

Amelia watched Harry pace in front of the fire, unable to sit down. "Snape wants to stone for Voldemort...and Voldemort's waiting in the forest...and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."

"Stop saying the name!" Ron shouted in a terrified whisper. Amelia crouched low in a corner, glancing around compulsively, as if Voldemort was watching them.

Harry didn't listen. "Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so...Bane was furious...he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen...They must show that Voldemort's coming back...Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me...I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

"_Will you stop saying the name!_" Ron hissed.

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry rambled on," then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off...Well, I suppose Bane'll be happ -"

Amelia jumped up and put a hand across his mouth. "Don't talk about you dying like you want it to happen," she whispered, her eyes downcast.

Harry was silent but nodded. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Hermione was terrified, but said, "Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

They kept talking until the sun rose and they went to bed exhausted and with sore throats.


	12. I: Through the Trapdoor

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 12 - Through the Trapdoor

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

Exam time grew closer along with the sweltering heat of summer, and Amelia nearly forgot about Fluffy completely. It was worse in the large room where the first years had their written exams, as the heat was trapped like the walls were a greenhouse. They were given special quills bewitched to stop them from cheating.

The practical exams followed. Professor Flitwick called them into his classroom, one by one, to have them make a pineapple tap-dance across the desk. Amelia's seemed to follow its own beat, though Flitwick laughed and gave her points for originality. Professor McGonagall watched as they turned a mouse into a snuffbox, adding points for decorations, detracting points for any mouse remnants. Amelia thrived in her potion's exam. Even with Snape hovering over her and circling her desk like a vulture, she managed to make an exemplary Forgetfulness potion, for which she received full marks.

Harry, however, was out of sorts. Amelia watched as he muddled through his tests, touching his scar often enough to indicate there was something wrong, and his eyes were glazed over, as if he couldn't sleep. However, she had little time to fret over him, as her History of Magic exam was next and, thankfully, last. All it took was one more hour of answering questions about old wizards who experimented with their wands before blowing themselves up over self-stirring cauldrons, or something of the like until a glorious free week as they waited for their results. Professor Binns called for them to put down their quills, and Amelia cheered with the rest of the class as their papers were collected.

She filed out with the rest of the first years onto the sunny grounds with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, stretching greatfully.

"That was terrible!" she exclaimed. "Thank God it's over!"

"I didn't think it was that bad. It was a lot easier than I thought it'd be," Hermione replied. "I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

Amelia cast a glare at Hermione. "Yeah, think of all the free time we would've had," she snapped, dreaming about the new potion she had wanted to try.

Hermione shook her head. "It's still good knowledge to have in case you ever need it."

"Because I'm going to meet a werewolf who'll want to discuss the Code of Conduct with an eleven-year-old," Amelia replied sarcastically. She paused before continuing, "As great as that would be."

"You worry me sometimes, you know that?" Ron said as they flopped down under a tree by the lake, watching the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan tickle the tentacles of the giant squid basking in the warm shallows by the shore.

"No more studying," Ron exhaled happily, plopping into the grass and stretching out lazily. "You could be more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry continued to rub his forehead.

"I wish I knew what this _means_!" he burst out. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Maybe Madam Pomfrey would know," Hermione suggested.

"He's not ill, and I don't think she knows about curse scars," Amelia said.

"I think it's a warning...it means danger's coming..." Harry trailed off.

Ron responded without a care, too hot to worry. "Harry, relax. Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Harry nodded, but didn't appear convinced. "But I have this feeling that I've forgotten something, something important..."

Hermione waved off his concerns. "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."

Amelia shook her head, sure that Harry wasn't worried about his exams. "You've been under a lot of stress. Maybe it's starting to get to you," she suggested.

"Maybe," Harry murmured. He watched an owl fly upwards as it left with a message tied to its leg.

He suddenly jumped to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked.

"I've just thought of something," he said, his skin white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."

He dashed off without looking to see if the others were following him.

"Why?" Hermione panted, rushing to keep up.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," Harry said as he scrambled up the grassy hill. "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" Ron asked, but Harry didn't answer as he sprinted up to Hagrid's house as it came in sight.

Amelia groaned as she jogged to catch up, his explanation understandable, though she was confused as to where he was going with it. What was he so worried about?

They found Hagrid reclined in an armchair outside his house, his trousers and sleeves rolled up as he shelled peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said with a smile. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," Ron said, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," Hagrid replied. "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He watched them look around with raised eyebrows and stunned expressions.

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head - that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry sank to the ground next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?" he asked.

"Mighta come up," Hagrid said, a frown turning the corners of his lips down as he tried to remember. "Yeah...he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here...He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after...so I told him...an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon...an' then...I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks...Let's see...yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted...but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter fo ter any old home...So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy..."

"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked. Amelia could hear the tension and forced patience in his voice.

"Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play a bit o' music an' he'll got straight off ter sleep-"

Hagrid broke off, his face horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey - where're yeh goin'?"

The four first-years didn't speak a word until they stopped in the entrance hall, which was much colder when compared to the sunny grounds outside.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," Harry said, panting as he tried to catch his breath. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak - it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They began to look around, considering the question for the first time, hoping that a sign would appear before them. Amelia couldn't remember ever being told where Dumbledore stayed.

"We might have to-" Amelia began.

"What are you three doing inside?"

They turned to find Professor McGonagall standing in the hall, carrying a large pile of books in her hands.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said bravely.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" she repeated, as if they couldn't have asked a more suspicious question. "Why?"

Amelia took a gulp of air and said, "It something we can only discuss with him, Professor."

She looked between the four and said carefully, "Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once." Amelia thought she sounded rather cold.

"He's _gone_?" Harry frantically said. "_Now_?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time-"

"But this is important."

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"It's about the Sorcerer's Stone!" Amelia shouted quickly before slapping her hands over her mouth.

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected them to say, it certainly wasn't that. The books in her arms tumbled to the floor where they lay as she stared at them in shock.

"How do you know-?" she stuttered.

"Professer, I think - I _know_ - that Sn - that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore," Harry said.

She eyed them with barely concealed suspicion and shock.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said with finality. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor-"

"No buts, Miss Warrington. I know what I'm talking about," she snapped. She leaned down to gather up her books back into her arms. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

Playing outside was the farthest thing from their minds.

"It's tonight," Harry said, once he was sure Professor McGonagall couldn't hear him. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"But what can we-" Ron began. Hermione interrupted him with a gasp, and the four whisked around to find Snape standing behind them.

"Good afternoon," he greeted smoothly.

Amelia nodded, giving him a small smile to appear normal. "Good afternoon, Professor." Ron, Hermione, and Harry stared in silence.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said with a twisted grin.

"We were -" Harry began.

"You want to be more careful," Snape cut him off. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose anymore points, can it?"

They turned to go outside, but Snape called out and stopped them. "Be warned, Potter - any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you," he said before striding off in the direction of the staff room.

Harry turned to the others outside on the steps to the entrance hall.

"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently to them. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape - wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, Amelia, you two better do that."

"Why us?" Hermione asked.

"It's obvious," Ron answered. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know," He switched to a high voice. "'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong...'"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said, but agreed to it nonetheless.

"And Amelia, half the teachers at school think you're a saint. If anyone can halt Snape it's you," Harry said.

Amelia frowned, blushed, but nodded to go with Hermione anyway.

"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry said to Ron. "Come on."

The boys ran off in the opposite direction than the girls did to the third-floor. Hermione and Amelia skidded to a stop in front of the staff room, waiting for a teacher to exit.

It only took a few moments before the door opened and Snape stepped out, glancing twice at the two first-years in front of him.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, gazing at them suspiciously.

Amelia and Hermione exchanged glance nervously before Hermione said, "I was just waiting for Professor Flitwick. I have a question about the exam."

He considered her reply with obvious mistrust on his face, but he didn't question her. He turned to Amelia.

"I was wondering if I could borrow a few ingredients for a potion that I'm working on," she said, giddy at how plausible her reply seemed, even when made up on the spot.

He raised an eyebrow. "The student stores are open."

She swallowed and continued, "It's not something available in the stores."

He closed the door behind him and looked down at her. "I received a letter from your mother not too long ago," he began. Amelia felt her smile fade. "And as I would like to keep school property intact, you will have to make do with ingredients available to students."

Amelia sighed and laughed nervously. "Yes, Professor."

He turned to stride off, quickly telling Hermione that he would fetch Professor Flitwick for her. The girls took this moment to run back down the hall towards the Gryffindor common room.

Amelia rushed through the door panting and stopped before Harry and Ron. "I'm sorry. Snape escaped."

Ron sat up. "What? How?"

Hermione came up next to her and said, "Snape came out and asked what we were doing so I said I was waiting for Flitwick and Amelia said she needed potions ingredients but Snape refused her and went to get Flitwick. I don't know where Snape went."

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Hary said. Amelia watched him, his face pale but his eyes glittering with inspiration. "I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"You're mad!" Ron said.

"After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You can't! You'll be expelled!" Hermione added.

"Harry, think about it," Amelia said. "There's no way you could stand up against a teacher-"

"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldmort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the house cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you three say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

He ended with a glare at the others.

Amelia sighed. "I guess you're right."

"I'll use the invisibility cloak," he said. "It's just lucky I got it back."

"But will it cover all four of us?" Ron asked.

"All - all four of us?" Harry stuttered.

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?" Ron said.

Amelia said and patted his shoulder. "We support you," she said.

"Of course," Hermione continued. "How do you think you'd get the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful..."

"But if we get caught, you three will be expelled, too," Harry said.

Amelia smirked. "Already counting us out, Harry? Really, where is your faith?"

"We won't get caught if I can help it," Hermione said. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."

* * *

After dinner, the four of them sat apart, shaking with nerves in the common room. Nobody disturbed them; they had nothing to say anymore. Usually somewhat unhappy, this was the first time it did not bother them. Hermione was skimming through her notes, hoping to come across spells and enchantments that could help them. Harry and Ron didn't say too much. Amelia was content to sit in a chair and preview the second year potion's textbook that Snape had given her to borrow.

She would have forgotten completely about their plans for the night if Harry hadn't given her a knowing look after the common room cleared as people went off to bed.

Once Lee Jordan left, Ron said, "Better get the cloak." Harry ran upstairs and returned seconds later with the cloak in his hands and the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas sticking out of his pocket.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all four of us - if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own -" Harry began.

"What are you doing?" a voice interrupted from the corner of the room. Neville stood up from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor to his chest as if he was about to jump away.

"Don't worry about it, Neville," Amelia said in a rush, moving to get under the cloak next to Harry.

Neville examined their guilty faces.

"You're going out again," he accused.

"No, no, no," Hermione said. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

Harry glanced at the clock by the door and gestured for the three to hurry. If they dallied too long, Snape could get past Fluffy and down the trapdoor before they would.

"You can't go out," Neville said. "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"Neville, this is really important," Amelia said, beginning to plead.

But Neville was obviously prepared to stop them as he steeled himself to do something radical.

"I won't let you do it," he said, scurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll-I'll fight you!"

"_Neville_," Ron said. "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot -"

"Don't you call me an idiot!" Neville shouted. "I don't think you should be breaking anymore rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to _us_," Ron said, exasperated.

"Neville, please, you don't know what you're doing," Amelia said.

Neville stepped forward and dropped Trevor, who bounded out of sight gratefully.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" he said, raising his fists in preparation for a fight. "I'm ready!"

They turned to Hermione. "_Do something_," Harry whispered desperately.

Hermione stepped forward. "Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." She raised her wand. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" she said, aiming directly at Neville.

Neville snapped together and became rigid, swaying on the spot before falling to the floor, stiff as a board.

Hermione ran over and turned him onto his back. His jaws where clamped close from the spell, so only his eyes moved around, looking at them in horror.

"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.

"It's the full Body-Bind," Hermione said sadly. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

"We had to Neville, no time to explain," Harry said.

"You'll understand later, Neville," Ron added, stepping over him as he pulled the invisibility cloak on.

Leaving Neville on the floor felt like a bad omen as they walked down the halls, nerves on his alert. Every shadow looked like Filch as they walked, each breeze sounded like Peeves closing in on them. They were sure that some of the paintings could see the and were watching them closely.

When they reached the foot of the first set of stairs, they found Mrs. Norris pacing near the top.

"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered into Harry's ear. Harry shook his head and Amelia smacked his arm. He winced and turned to quickly glare at her before returning to the path in front of him. They climbed around her carefully and quietly. She turned her bright eyes to them, but didn't move.

They didn't see anyone else until they reached to third floor staircase. Peeves was floating about halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip in the morning.

He suddenly stopped and turned around. "Who's there?" he called out. He narrowed hi black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you a ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

He floated up into the air, squinting in their direction. Amelia tried to still her breath as they froze.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Amelia suddenly remembered something and tapped on Harry's shoulder, mouthing the words, "the Bloody Baron" to him. He looked at her in confusion before his face lit up with understanding.

"Peeves," he said hoarsely. "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Peeves almost fell to the floor in shock. He caught himself and hovered barely a foot off of the stairs.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir," he said, obviously trying to get out of trouble. "My mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you - of course I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have buisness here, Peeves," Harry said. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will sir, I most certainly will," Peeves said, rising back into the air. "Hope your buisness goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you." He flew off in a hurry.

Once he was a long way off, Ron turned to Harry and whispered, "_Brilliant_, Harry!"

It only took a few more moments before they were outside the third-floor corridor, but the door was already cracked open.

"Well, there you are," Harry said. "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

In that moment Amelia realized just what she was getting herself in to, what she would have to face. She took a deep breath and readied herself to confront whoever was behind the door.

Harry turned around to the other three. "If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," Ron said.

"We're coming," Hermione said.

Amelia reached forward and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "We're not leaving you."

He nodded and pushed the door open.

As it creaked, a low grumble came from the hall. All three of the dog's noses sniffed wildly about in the direction, relying on scent rather than sight.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," Ron said. "Snape must have left it here."

"I guess it wakes up when you stop playing," Amelia pondered out loud.

"Well, here goes," Harry said.

He lifted Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. What he played couldn't be called music, but the dog's eyes began to droop and its growls ceased. It stumbled on its paws and slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Ron told Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and towards the trapdoor and the beast's feet. It's hot breath stank as they approached.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," Ron said as he tried to peer over the dog's back. "Want to go first Amelia, Hermione?"

Amelia scoffed. "We most certainly don't!" she whispered harshly.

"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and carefully made his way over the dog's legs. He pulled the ring of the trapdoor and swung it open with a heave.

"What can you see?" Hermione asked, her voice anxious.

"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

From where he stood still playing, Harry waved to Ron to get his attention before pointing to himself.

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" Ron asked. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."

In a few seconds, Harry handed the flute over and the dog began to growl and twitch. It stopped the moment Hermione blew a few notes as it fell into a deep sleep once more.

Harry climbed over the dog and looked down into the open trapdoor. Amelia stood next to him, gazing over the edge. She couldn't see a bottom.

Harry lowered himself down into the hole until he was hanging onto the edge with his fingertips. He looked up at Amelia and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"

She nodded. "Okay."

"See you in a minute, I hope..."

Amelia watched him let go and disappear into the darkness. A moment of unbearable waiting passed until she heard a soft thump on the ground below.

"It's okay!" Harry called up. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron instantly jumped and landed with the same soft thud to whatever lay at the bottom of the hole.

"What's this stuff?" his voice echoed.

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Amelia!" Harry called out.

Amelia took a deep breath threw her legs over the lips of the trapdoor, pushing herself off and clenching her eyes shut until she landed on something squishy and cold. She blinked around in the darkness, searching for her friends with outstretched hands.

A rough hand grabbed one of her own. "We're over here," she heard Ron say. She tried to wade her way across but found her foot stuck on something. She leaned down to try and relieve her apandage of whatever it was.

"Hermione!" Harry called just before the music stopped and she landed right next to Amelia with a grunt.

"We must be miles under the school," Hermione said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," Ron said.

"Lucky? Look at you both!" Hermione shrieked. She stood and struggled over to the closest wall, pulling at the snakelike tendrils of the plant that had slithered their way over her. Harry and Ron already had both legs wrapped tightly. Amelia gasped when she realized that the vines that had fastened around her feet were finding their way up her arms. She violently pulled and struggled against them.

Hermione had somehow managed to fight the plant off and make her way to the wall and out of the pit. She watched as the others fought and observed that the more they struggled, the faster they became covered in tendrils.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," Ron snapped, leaning back and out of the way of the plant as it tried to wrap itself around his neck.

"Can you at least remember how to kill it?" Amelia shrieked as she found herself being drawn to the floor with jerks from the vines.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, struggling against the plant as it wrapped around his chest.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...what did Professor Sprout say?" Hermione chanted to herself.

Amelia suddenly remember. "It likes the damp and dark!"

"So light a fire!" Harry choked from beneath the plant.

"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron shouted. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" Hermione said, slipping her wand out of her robes and muttering a spell, waving her wand at the Devil's Snare. A jet of blue flames burst out of the tip. It took only seconds for the plant to back away, letting the three first-years go free as it retreated from the warmth. Amelia sighed in relief when she was able to properly stand and stretch her arms out, rubbing out the soreness.

"Lucky you two pay attention in Herbology," Harry said as he joined the girls by the wall.

"Yeah, and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis," Ron said. "'_There's no wood_,' honestly."

"This way," Harry said, pointing down a long stone passageway. It was truly the only way they could go.

They made their way carefully, only hearing drips of water besides the gentle patter of their footsteps. The passage sloped downwards and the air grew colder. Amelia wrapped her arms around herself before Ron whispered, "Can you hear something?"

They listened. From up ahead there was a soft rustling and tinkling, as if something was moving.

"Do you think it's a ghost?" Ron asked, a tremor in his voice.

"I don't know...sounds like wings to me," Amelia answered.

"There's light ahead - I can see something moving," Harry said.

They came upon the end of the passageway and saw a brightly lit chamber with high arched ceilings that stretched on above them. There were hundreds of jewel-like birds fluttering about inside. On the other side of the wide hall, there was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" Ron said.

"Probably," Harry replied. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once...well, there's no other choice...I'll run."

Harry took a deep breath, shielded his face with his arms, and sprinted to the door. Amelia closed her eyes, expecting to hear the sudden and rapid beating of wings and to hear Harry crying out as small beaks dung into his skin, but he reached the door untouched. Amelia glanced between her eyelids enough to see him struggling with the door. It was locked.

The others followed, helping him tug and pull at the door with all their strength, but it wouldn't move. Hermione's Alohomora charm was even useless.

"Now what?" Ron said.

Amelia looked around, glancing up at the birds. "These birds have to be here for a reason," she said mostly to herself, squinting her eyes to try and see them better. She examined one as it glittered above her and she suddenly felt an epiphany wash through her.

"Those aren't birds!" she shouted. "They're_ keys!_"

"So that must mean..." Harry trailed off, looking wildly around at the ceiling. "Yes - look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are hundreds of them!" Hermione said.

Ron looked down at the lock, examining it closely. "We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle."

Ron, Hermione, and Harry each seized a broomstick - Amelia used the excuse that there were only three there to stay on the ground - and pushed off into the cloud of keys, grabbing and snatching at them. They dived away so quickly that all they could accomplish was a brush of fingers. It was nearly impossible to catch one. But after minutes of weaving between the streams of beating wings, Harry called out, "That one!" to the others, pointing to a key that seemed to be flying lopsided. "That big one - there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

Ron flew off in the direction that Harry pointed in and crashed into the ceiling, almost falling off of his broom.

"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called out, focusing on the key. "Ron, you come at it from above - Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down - and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"

Ron swooped down and Hermione sprang upward but the key dodge them both and swerved out the the way enough for Harry to bolt after it. It sped toward the wall and Harry caught it with a nasty crunch against the stone wall. The other three's cheers echoed in the great chamber.

They quickly touched back down to the floor and Harry ran to the door, holding the key in his tight grip. He pushed it into the lock and turned, ecstatic to hear the high clicking sound from the other side that said it worked. The moment the door was unlocked the key took off back into the air, looking beaten up after being caught twice.

Harry turned around and said to the other three, "Ready?" with his hand on the door handle.

They nodded and he swung the door open.

The next chamber was pitch black and so dark that they couldn't see anything else in the room with them. As soon as Harry took the first step onto the tiled floor, light illuminated the room.

They were standing at the very edges of an enormous chessboard with black chess pieces behind them, much taller than them and carved from a dark stone. The white pieces were facing them with no faces. The first-years shivered.

"What happens now?" Amelia asked no in particular.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron said. "We've got to play out way across the room."

Amelia peered behind the white pieces and spotted another door that led to the next chamber.

"How?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I think," Ron said. "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to one of the black knights and put a hand to touch the horse. The stone came alive and the horse pawed at the ground as the knight turned to look down at Ron.

"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?"

The knight nodded. Ron turned to the others.

Amelia groaned. "Chess? Really? Of all things it's chess?"

Ron quieted her with his hand. "This needs thinking about..." he said to himself. "I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces..."

The other three stayed quiet and let Ron think. At last he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess - "

"That's no secret," Amelia said. "Tell us what you need us to do."

"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop," he began, looking around the board. "Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle, and," he paused, quickly looking at Amelia.

"You all right with being the queen?" he asked.

Amelia smiled and curtsied.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be knight."

As if the chessmen had been listening, a knight, castle, bishop, and the queen walked off of the board and left four empty spaces for the others to fill in. Amelia stood looking at the others, wondering if they were supposed to do something to start the game off.

"White always plays first in chess," Ron said, examining the board. "Yes...look..." They all turned their attention to the white pawn that had moved forward two spaces.

Ron directed the black pieces with every facet of his knowledge of chess. They moved with hesitation to where he sent them. Amelia grew nervous, as Ron had yet to give her a move - not that she was eager to be in the middle of pieces smashing each other. The brief thought that they might lose went through her head. What would happen then? Would the game just force them back the way they came?

"Harry - move diagonally four squares to the right," Ron said.

It came as a shock when the other knight was destroyed by the white queen right in front of them. Amelia jumped from the sound and covered her face to avoid the debris. He was dragged off the board by the white pieces, face-down and still.

"Had to let that happen," Ron said, looking a little pale. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Each time one of their pieces was taken, the white showed no hesitation in their destruction. It didn't take long for a pile of black pieces to pile up by the side of the board along the wall. A few times Ron had to think quick to keep Ron and Harry out of trouble and to move pieces to protect Amelia from being caged in against the side. He darted around the board just like any other piece, taking as many of the white pieces as he could. Amelia thought he was in the moment, acting like a knight, but she was too frightened to tease him about it.

"We're nearly there," he said suddenly. "Let me think - let me think..."

The white queen shifted from her last attack to face Ron dead on.

"Yes," Ron said decidedly. "it's the only way...I've got to be taken."

"NO!" They shouted in protest.

"That's chess!" Ron refuted. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But-" Hermione began.

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron-" Amelia started.

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"

As far as they could tell, there was no other choice if they were going to save the Stone.

"Ready?" Ron said, his skin pale but his face determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."

He moved forward and the white queen pounced on her prey quickly. She hit Ron hard across the head with her stone white arm and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Hermione and Amelia gasped in horror and had to forced themselves to stay on their squares as the queen dragged Ron to the side with the other black pieces, clearly knocked out.

Quivering, Harry shifted three spaces to the left.

The white king removed his crown from the top of his head and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The white chessmen moved aside and bowed their defeat, leaving the way open to the next door. The three left and glanced at their fallen friend with a desperate need to make sure he was okay, but continued on into the next chamber.

"What if he's-" Hermione began.

"He'll be all right," Harry said with as much certainty as he could muster. "What do you reckon's next?"

"Well, Professor Sprout must have put the Devil's Snare at the beginning, Flitwick could have charmed the keys, and Professor McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them move. That leaves Quirrell, Snape and Dumbledore," Amelia said as they reached the next door.

"All right?" Harry whispered.

The two girls nodded and Harry pushed the door open with his shoulder.

A putrid smell came from the room and wafted into their noses. They had to pull their robes up over the bottom half of their faces to battle the stench. In front of them, out cold on the floor, was a troll much larger than the one that they had seen on Halloween with a large, bloody lump on it head.

"That'll be Quirrell's contribution," Amelia coughed.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered. They stepped over the beast carefully, avoiding touching its massive legs.

"Hurry, I can't breathe," Amelia coughed.

She pulled open the next door and breathed in the clean air gratefully before looking at the next task before them. Rather than more horrors, there was a table with seven different bottles standing in a line, each containing potions.

"Snape's," Harry said. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold of the door and a fire sprang up behind them immediately, covering the door with purple flames. In the same moment the door leading onto the next, and most likely the last, room was engulfed with black flames. They were trapped unless they could solve Snape's trick.

"Look at this," Amelia said, reaching forward to pick up a roll of parchment laying next to the bottles. Harry and Hermione looked over her shoulder as she read it aloud:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

_To help you in you choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tried to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight. _

Hermione let out a large sigh and smiled, while Harry looked as if he couldn't be more worried.

"_Brilliant_," she said. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"But so will we, won't we?" Harry asked.

"Of course not," Hermione replied. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which one to drink?"

"Give me a minute," Hermione said, taking the paper from Amelia. She read it several times and muttered to herself as she pointed at the bottles, counting them multiple times.

Amelia sighed and walked over to the table, opening each bottle and taking a whiff. Harry watched her with curiosity, hearing her label each one. "This is wine - that's poison - more wine - this will get you through the purple," she paused, holding up an oblong bottle. She continued on until she came to the smallest and smiled. "And this will get us through the black."

Harry stared at her in wonder. "Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly.

She smirked. "Do you doubt my potion's skills?"

He sighed. "That's true," he said, looking at the bottle. "There's only enough here for two of us."

They glanced back and forth at each other.

Harry picked up the other bottle that Amelia had set aside. "This will get us back, right?"

She nodded. "I'm positive."

"Hermione, you drink that," Harry said. She began to protest and he interrupted, "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. We might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but we're no match for him, really."

"But Harry - what if You-Know-Who's with him?" Hermione asked.

"Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?" Harry said, pointing to the scar on his forehead. "I might get lucky again."

Hermione's face trembled, as if she was about to cry, before she threw herself forward and latched her arms around Harry's neck.

"_Hermione!"_

"Harry - you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you," Harry said, his face red as she let go of him. From next to the two, Amelia felt her heart clench. She wondered why she felt angry, angry at Hermione.

"Me! Books! And cleverness!" Hermione said. "There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be _careful_!"

Amelia stepped forward and gave her the potion. "You should drink it first."

She nodded and swallowed a gulp, shivering as it went down her throat.

"It's not poison?" Harry said anxiously.

"No - but it's like ice."

"Quickly, it'll wear off soon," Amelia said.

Hermione nodded. "Good luck - take care -"

"GO!"

Hermione turned and walked through the purple fire without incident.

Harry took a deep breath and turned to Amelia, holding out the smallest bottle to her, facing the black flames.

"I'll go first and meet you on the other side," he said, not waiting for her nod to take a swig of half of the bottle's contents.

He shivered as he drank and walked through the black flames quickly. Amelia sighed and took her drink, feeling a bone-chilling coldness go through her. She anxiously stepped through the fire and expected to feel pain, but saw nothing but the flames licking at her skin harmlessly. All she could see was black until she was on the other side, bumping into Harry, who was staring at the center of the chamber.

She glanced in the same direction and put a hand to her mouth.

There was already someone there, but it wasn't Snape or Voldemort.

It was Quirrell.


	13. I: The Man with Two Faces

**An Era to Live**

Chapter 13 - The Man With Two Faces

_Disclaimer: _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

A/N: Well, I finally did it - I completed a story! (Part one, but it still makes me so proud of myself!) Seeing as how I'm all hyped up on Harry Potter right now, I may just skip my other story and continue with this one, but that's entirely dependent upon my workload and life - it's looking good, and I hope it stays that way.

I hope I led into the next year all right (huge spoiler alert for the next year!)

I hope everyone got oodles of Peeps and eggs from the Easter Bunny! :)

* * *

"_You!_" Harry gasped, his eyes wide.

Quirrell smiled for the first time without any twitching or nervous motions.

"Me," he replied calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter, though Warrington is quite the surprise."

"But I thought - Snape - "

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, cold, high, and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirell?"

Amelia's mind was in a whirlwind of confusion. Of all the professors, Quirell was Voldemort's follower? The same Quirrell who had run from bewitched snowballs and twitched whenever someone mentioned vampires?

"But Snape tried to kill me!" Harry shouted.

Quirrell gave the two a conspiratorial grin. "No, no, no. _I_ tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse, trying to save you."

Harry blinked, just as confused as Amelia was. "Snape was trying to _save_ me?"

"Of course," Quirrell said with cool detachment. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really...he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he _did_ make himself unpopular...and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight," he paused, eyes turning to the other youth in the room. "You and your girlfriend."

Amelia's breath caught in her throat as she gripped onto the back of Harry's shirt, fearful. Quirrell snapped his fingers, summoning ropes and directing them to wrap tightly around the first years.

"You two are too nosy to live. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."

"_You_ were the one who let the troll in?" Amelia exclaimed.

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly. Now, wait quietly, Warrington. I need to examine this interesting mirror."

At his mention of it, Amelia recognized the tall, gilded mirror that stood in the center of the chamber behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured to himself, walking around the frame in thought. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this...but he's in London...I'll be far away by the time he gets back..."

He seemed to be talking to himself, beginning to forget that he had company. Amelia felt herself shake as she shared a glance with Harry. They had to do something to keep him distracted long enough for Dumbledore to return or for another professor to get down in to the chamber. Surely Hermione had sent out her owl by now...

"I saw you and Snape in the forest -" Harry spat out suddenly.

"Yes," Quirrell responded, clearly still distracted. He made another circle around the mirror before stopping to stand behind it. "He was on to me by that time, trying to figure out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort by my side..."

Quirrell again came around from the mirror, staring at it with a great hunger.

"I see the Stone...I'm presenting it to my master...but where is it?"

Harry began to struggle against the ropes, but they refused to give. Amelia tried to maneuver around to find a weak spot - if there were any - but she had no luck. She tried, though. They had to stop Quirrell from getting the Stone. They had to distract him.

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much," Harry said desperately, reaching for topics to talk about.

"Oh, he does," Quirrell said without much interest. "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you _dead_."

Amelia felt an 'I-told-you-so' rising in her throat, but kept it down. There would be a better time to rub it in his face. Harry seemed to sense this though, and sent her a look to keep quiet.

"But Harry heard you sobbing," Amelia began.

"I thought Snape was threatening you..." Harry trailed off.

A flash of fear went across his face and he looked truly frightened.

"Sometimes," he said, taking a deep breath. "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard and I am weak -"

Amelia gasped. "He was there in the classroom with you?"

Quirrell paused before continuing quietly, "He is with me wherever I go. I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it...Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." A shudder went through him. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me...decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me..."

Quirrell voice faded as his mind trailed off. Amelia felt Harry tremble and wished that there was something that she could do for him, but she was bound so tightly that she could do nothing more than twist around a bit.

Quirrell cursed in a whisper. "I don't understand...is the Stone _inside_ the mirror? Should I break it?"

While Quirrell was talking to himself, Harry gestured to Amelia to try and shift to the left. When they tried to shimmy over, they tripped and fell onto their sides. Amelia found herself facing Quirrell this time and shook fearfully. They were ignored though. Quirrell didn't even seem to hear them.

"What does this mirror do?" Quirrell asked. Amelia had a bad feeling that he was asking for specific help. "How does it work? Help me, Master!"

To her horror, a voice answered that seemed to come from Quirrell himself, though it didn't resemble his voice in the least. It was high and breathy, echoing around the chamber.

_"Use the boy...use the boy..."_

Quirrell whipped around and glared at the two students.

"Yes - Potter - come here," he said. He clapped his hands once and the bindings fell off of Harry and Amelia. Harry got to his feet and slowly approached Quirrell, giving Amelia a look that told her to stay where she was.

"Come here," he repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Amelia watched Harry approach the mirror cautiously, never turning his back on Quirrell. She sat up and desperately prayed that he would be careful, that he would be safe, that he wouldn't give the Stone of Voldemort and his pawn. Quirrell moved behind Harry, watching him closely. He was quiet for a moment before Amelia saw Harry's eyes go wide in the mirror.

"Well?" Quirrell said urgently. "What do you see?"

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," Harry said, his voice wavering. "I-I've won the house cup for Gryffindor," he stuttered. It was this small action that let Amelia know he was lying.

Quirrell cursed. He knew it too.

"Get out of the way," he said, shoving Harry to the side.

Amelia stood and watched Harry slowly try and make his way back to her, but he had only taken a few steps before that same high voice echoed over them. Quirrell's mouth wasn't moving.

_"He lies...he lies..."_

"Potter!" Quirrel shouted immediately. "Come back here! Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"

The voice spoke again. _"Let me speak to him...face-to-face..."_

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

_"I have strength enough...for this..." _

Amelia thought he sounded oddly like a snake, drawing his words out in slow hisses. She was rooted to the spot, fear replacing the rope bonds that had held her before. She watched Quirrell reach around his head, unwrapping the turban from his scalp. It fell away, making his head look diminutive without it.

Amelia gasped, staring at the back of his head. She let out a squeak that she had intended as a scream, but found her voice lodged in her throat. A terrible face extended from the back of her old professor's head, pale, chalk white with red eyes and slits for his nostrils. He looked more like a snake than a person. The eyes were unfocused before they locked on Amelia's. She felt her blood run cold at the glare that she received.

Quirrell began to turn to let the face talk to Harry, but its lips moved and he shouted out in a whisper, "_Wait_!"

Quirrell face in the mirror appeared puzzled. "Master...?" he began.

Amelia shook, wrapping her arms around her waist as she took a step back. Harry turned around to her, moving for her to stay still. He took quiet steps towards her, trying to edge around the face's peripheral to get back to her.

A grin slithered out across its lips and for the first time, recognition registered in her mind.

She was staring at what was left of Voldemort.

"_It has been a long time...Emily.._." he began. Amelia was confused, but couldn't do anything other than tremble. "_Look at you...shaking in fear...what happened to your bravery..."_

Harry looked just as confused as Amelia felt. Emily? Who was she?

She gulped. "M-my name's not Emily," she said. Though her voice wavered, she found some confidence in not appearing too terrified. She was sure he could sense her fear, no matter how much she tried to hide it, however.

Voldemort began to look confused. "_That's right...the Emily I know... has long grown old.._." he said, appearing to speak more to himself than her. For just a moment, Amelia thought that his eyes appeared a little sad or regretful, but knew it must have just been her imagination, for the glint was quickly gone.

"_She is of no use...dispose of her.._." he whispered.

Her eyes shot wide and she heard Harry's scream of protest before she felt her head hitting the floor and a green flash blinding her.

* * *

"Professor, I must insist that Miss Warrington be left alone today. She is still recovering from trauma and must be left alone to rest -"

"Madam Pomfrey, I assure you, I will not be long."

"Not long to you could be a like playing Quidditch to her. Any movement puts strain on her -"

Amelia groaned, blinking her eyes open to find out why she was being awoken by an argument. She recognized Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore.

"Professor?" she asked, moving to sit up. "What are you -" She trailed off, falling backward as she was overwhelmed by dizziness.

Pomfrey clocked her tongue at her. "How many times do I have to tell you children to relax?" she said to herself more than Amelia. Dumbledore gave her a mischievous wink as he took a seat next to her bed. Madam Pomfrey scowled, but didn't say anything more as she left to her office.

"You have five minutes," he said, briskly walking away.

Dumbledore smiled as he glanced down at Amelia. "I hear that you are recovering quite well, Miss Warrington."

She blinked. "What?"

He laughed. "That was quite the adventure that you had. Of course - as I told Harry - what should be our little secret has become a school legend."

Amelia laughed despite that pain in her chest. Her eyes shot open as she remembered the others who had gone down with her to meet with Quirrell - to protect the Stone.

She shot up, the world staying still and not spinning for once, for which she was thankful for. "Harry! Where is he? Is he all right? Did Ron and Hermione make it back? What about the Stone? Quirrell was going to get it -"

Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Relax!" he smiled. "Your friends are fine. Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are perfectly fine and Mr. Potter is resting right over there," he said, gesturing to the other side of the hospital wing. Amelia glanced over at him and sighed, relieved. He was safe.

"But what happened to -"

"I think that would be a story better told by Harry himself," he said. He patted her head. "But rest assured, everything is fine. Voldemort does not have the Stone and all of you will recover and life will continue."

She nodded, but kept her gaze on her hands. She didn't understand how she had gotten here, how she was even alive when Voldemort had commanded Quirrel to kill her himself - she was sure of it. He had wanted her dead.

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "But Professor, how am I here?" she asked, looking up at him.

He continued to calmly smile at her. "You were extraordinarily brave, Amelia," he said. "Not many could face Lord Voldemort and make it out alive, much less with simply a few bruises." He paused and his smile faded a bit. "But you were put in a danger that should have proved fatal to you."

She was beyond confused. "I don't understand."

"When I arrived, Harry was ferociously protecting both himself and yourself from Lord Voldemort. He was acting under the presumption that you were dead, but that is another story for another time."

"Dead?"

He smiled kindly again. "As much as I know you are tired for hearing this from adults, I must repeat it - you will know when you are old enough to bear it."

"Bear it? What - How does that have anything to do with me being in the hospital wing?"

Dumbledore took a deep breath and stood, walking over to the foot of her bed. She noticed the many vases of flowers that sat on the table and smiled. She could spot Hermione's and Ron's handwritting, and spotted two identical vases that she suspected were from the twins.

"While young Harry was given an enormous amount of sweets, your friends seemed to have given you quite the selection of flowers from the gardens." He stopped to finger the petals of one, a yellow tulip surrounded by simply white blossoms. "I seem to remember a young lady, such as yourself, laying here with a similar bouquet at her bedside. Her name was Emily, and she was your grandmother."

Amelia's eyes shot open. "My grandmother? But Voldemort called me -"

"Yes, I know," he said. "He knew your grandmother quite well while at Hogwarts. But that is a story for another time," he said, returning to her side, but he chose to remain standing. "It is to her that you owe your life. Without her, you would certainly be dead."

Amelia had no idea what to say to that. She was sure that her mouth was hanging open.

Dumbledore anticipated her question. "To make a long story short, your grandmother has assured safety for your family against Voldemort. That is why you are alive."

"So the Stone is safe?"

"Yes, the Stone is safe. Nicholas and I have had a long talk and agreed that it would be best if it was destroyed."

"But then he'll die!"

"There is a time for everything in life, and Nicolas is fully ready to face the end of his life. He has enough elixir to set his affairs in order and then he and his wife shall die."

Amelia looked down, sullen. It didn't seem right that they had to die.

"Do not be so sad about it. Nicolas and Perenelle have lived a long life and are content with the decision. It is, I think, to be their next adventure together."

She nodded and remained quiet.

Dumbledore chuckled. "While I'm sure you are a bit more disoriented, Harry had questions spewing out of him like steam out of a kettle, and here you are, so quiet."

She chuckled along with him. "I just...I don't know what to think. It doesn't seem like any of it ever happened."

He smiled kindly. "I can imagine. But should you ever have any questions or wish to talk," he paused, covering her hand with his own. "I am always here."

She smiled. "Thank you, Professor."

* * *

Amelia took a deep breath and fell in line behind the crowd of students rushing into the Great Hall for the end-of-year feast. There were green and silver banners hanging down from the ceiling above each long table, and behind the High Table and all the teachers, the Slytherin serpent covered the wall in a large tapestry. She tried to sneak in and sit with her friends without drawing attention to herself - Madam Pomfrey had been turning visitors away for days - but soon found herself in the arms of Hermione as she ran up to her and tackled her with a hug.

"I was so worried about you!" she exclaimed, pulling her over to the Gryffindor table. "Madam Pomfrey didn't let us in to see you and Harry hadn't seen you since the thing with Quirrell and Dumbledore wouldn't tell us anything!"

Ron made room for Amelia as she squeezed in between him and Seamus. Both greeted her with the same enthusiasm and relief.

"Harry said that you were attacked by Quirrell!" Ron shouted as soon as he saw her.

Amelia laughed, despite the seriousness of it all. "I guess, but I'm okay. Speaking of Harry, have you seen him?"

"Not yet," Hermione said. "He's probably trying to convince Madam Pomfrey to let him leave. She almost didn't let us even speak to him."

Suddenly a great hush went over the hall as small footsteps came down the corridor. Amelia looked and felt a huge smile come over her face at Harry walking through the tall doors. He quickly tried to run over to the table without drawing much attention to himself, but Amelia didn't care. She ran out of her seat and down the space between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables and ran into him at full speed, throwing her arms around his neck.

He staggered but patted her back, face red as he tried not to notice the sniggers and whistles coming from the older students. Malfoy was sending him a particularly menacing glare.

"I'm so glad you're all right!" she exclaimed, dragging him over to the table and forcing him to sit next to her. "You have to tell me what happened! Dumbledore said -"

Hermione leaned over and shushed her as Dumbledore stepped up from his spot among the other teachers to deliver an end of the year speech.

"Another year gone!" he said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were...you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next years starts...

"Now, as I understand it, in the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with two hundred and sixty-two points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

The entire Slytherin table burst out in cheers as they stood and screamed, stamping their feet in excitement. Malfoy pounded his goblet against the table, adding to the noise and looking somewhat happier at the prospect of Slytherin beating Gryffindor.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," Dumbledore said, speaking over the noise. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The entire hall grew still and silent. The Slytherin's faces fell, worried. They were so sure of their victory.

"I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley..."

Ron went purple, looking like a radish more than anything else. Amelia smiled and patted his back.

"...for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The cheers that erupted from the Gryffindor table nearly shook the hall and the bewitched stars seemed to quiver from the echoes. Percy was heard over everybody else shouting, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

When there was silence again, Dumbledore continued. "Second - to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione seemed to have burst into tears as she buried her face in her arms. The other Gryffindor's were beside themselves with joy. In less than five minutes, they had earned a hundred points.

"Third - to Miss Amelia Warrington...for bravery and loyalty in the face of danger, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Amelia felt a slow smile rise to her lips as she received handshakes and pats and another hug from Hermione. She glanced at Harry and he smiled, squeezing her hand.

"Fourth - to Mr. Harry Potter..." Dumbledore paused and the silence in the hall was all-encompassing. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The screams and shouts of joy were defeaning as all of Gryffindor house exclaimed their joy. Anyone who had been adding up the points knew that they now had four hundred and seventy-two points - tied with Slytherin. They were neck and neck for the house cup. If only they could get one more point...

Dumbledore raised his hand for silence and waited until the students were calm enough for him to continue.

"There are all kinds of courage," he continued with a smile. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

As though an explosion had happened, the noise rose again in jubilee. Neville was white with shock, never before having won a point of Gryffindor. He was smothered with hugs from the others as they rushed to embrace him. Amelia had to squeeze her way out of the throng. Harry tapped on her to glance at Malfoy, who looked as if he had been Petrified. She couldn't find it in her to feel the least bit sorry for him.

"Which means," Dumbledore went on, calling out of the storm of applause. Even Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were up and celebrating at stopping Slytherin from seven years of winning the house cup. "we need a little change in decoration."

With a clap of his hands, the Slytherin banners were gone and, in their places, hung red and gold draping with magnificent lions on them. Snape reluctantly shook hands with McGonagall at the teacher's table with a forced smile that looked more like a grimace of pain.

Amelia couldn't remember being happier as Harry hugged her in celebration.

* * *

Amelia was beside herself with happiness the next few days until the first-years were given their exam results. She had almost forgotten about them. Luckily, her worries were unfounded. Her scores were high - not nearly as high as Hermione's, who had placed the best overall in their grade - and she had snagged a perfect score on her Potions exam. She was ecstatic and eager to relax and thoroughly enjoy the summer break ahead of her. Harry and Ron had passed as well, and even Neville had squeaked through with a good Herbology score.

It wasn't long until their wardrobes were empty and all their clothes packed and Amelia was closing up all her books and robes for the last time that year. McGonagall passed out notes to all the students, reminding them that they were not allowed to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," Fred joked). Hagrid took them back to the boats that sailed across the lake and Amelia got in a boat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione this time, no where near Malfoy and his gang. They were soon sliding their trunks on the racks of the Hogwarts Express, eating treats from the trolley and laughing about the things that had happened over the year. They pulled off their robes and changed into their Muggle clothes as they pulled into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took a while for all the students to get off the platform. There was an old guard by the exit of the platform, letting everyone go through in twos and threes so that the Muggles wouldn't suspect a thing about their secret world.

"You must come and stay this summer," Ron said, "I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll need something to look forward to."

People jostled them as they moved onwards towards the exit back into the Muggle world. Some of them called back:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"No one's going to be forgetting you anytime soon, that's for sure," Amelia said, moving forward towards the gateway with her friends. They passed through together.

"There he is, Mom, there he is, look!"

Amelia smiled at the small girl waving frantically over in their direction. She turned to Ron and asked, "Another Weasley?"

He blushed. "That's my sister Ginny."

"Harry Potter!" she squealed again. "Look, Mom! I can see -"

Her mother shushed her, pushing her hand down. "Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?"

"Very," Harry said. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing dear," she replied, smiling kindly down at him. "Are you Ron's friend too, sweetheart?" she asked, turning to Amelia.

She smiled and nodded. "Amelia Warrington. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Weasley."

She laughed. "Now don't be a stranger. Any friend of Ron's is welcome at our home."

"Ah, Molly, don't go inviting trouble. You'll never get rid of her," A man said, approaching the group.

Amelia laughed and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hi, Dad!" she greeted, laughing as he picked her up and swung her around.

"I missed you, my love!" he said, setting her back on her feet. "Did you have a good year?"

She nodded. "I'll tell you all about it, but first," she began, pulling her father over to her friends. "Dad, this is Ron, Hermione, and Harry. Guys, this is my dad."

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Warrington," Harry said, holding out his hand for a shake.

The older man laughed. "No need to be so formal, boy." He took Harry's hand nonetheless. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter."

Harry appeared surprised even though he should have been used to it by now.

Mr. Warrington brushed his hair aside and smiled. "You look just like your father, do you know that?"

Harry's eyes widened with wonder. "You knew my father?"

"Of course. Who didn't know your father and his merry band of motley misfits?" he laughed.

Harry opened his mouth to ask more questions when a rude voice interrupted him.

"Ready, are you?"

Amelia watched as a large man with a pronounced frown approached, glancing at Harry with distaste. She instantly knew that this had to be his uncle. The tall, thin, and prideful woman at his side must be his aunt.

Mrs. Weasley either didn't see this or didn't care as she said, "You must be Harry's family!"

"In a manner of speaking," Vernon said. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He briskly walked away, expecting Harry to follow him.

Harry looked back with a sullen face. "See you over the summer, then," he said.

"Hope you have - er - a good holiday," Hermione said, glancing at his relatives with doubt.

"Oh, I will," Harry said, a playful smile unexpectedly coming over his face. "_They_ don't know we're not allowed to use magic at him. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."

Amelia laughed. Leaning forward, she hugged him tightly and smiled to himself when he returned the embrace. She pulled away with a bright smile.

"Don't you forget to write, okay? I'll never forgive you if you don't!"

He laughed. "Every week," he said, though she doubted it.

The ride home was a blur. She felt as if she was leaving her family and going back to a strange world that she didn't remember as much as she should. They wouldn't understand all that had happened - she didn't even think that she should tell her parents all that had happened to her. They certainly would not send her back if they knew that she had come face-to-face with the most evil wizard the world had ever seen.

All she knew was that the minute she walked back into her room, she had to keep herself busy. Her homework wouldn't be enough.

While unpacking her trunk, she came across the plain black journal that she had received from her parents all those months ago for her birthday. She smiled to herself and immediately opened it, setting it down on her desk table and pulling out a quill, her open and half-packed trunk laying forgotten on her floor.

She would write all that had happened to her over the summer to pass the time until she was back with her friends. She would confide all her thoughts in this small book, all her first-year memories so that she would have them for years to come.

She dipped her quill into the ink and began.


End file.
